


What If?

by WinterShield13



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Bucky Barnes, Bisexual Steve Rogers, M/M, Slow Burn, Steve is much less depressed now that he's not alone in his modern confusion, Stucky - Freeform, but now bucky is there, everything else still happens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2018-05-17 21:10:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5885317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterShield13/pseuds/WinterShield13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Bucky didn't fall off the train? What if he was on the plane with Steve when it crashed, and that was how he lost his arm? AU where Bucky never becomes the Winter Soldier. Eventual Stucky.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What If They Crashed Together?

The train door slams shut, separating Steve and Bucky. Bucky hits the door in frustration. That was never good. Nothing good ever happens when the two of them get separated. Behind him, a huge Hydra soldier appears at the other end of the car. Bucky ducks behind some boxes, shooting at the soldier at every opportunity. It's ineffective and before long he runs out of bullets.

Steve breaks the door down with his shield and tosses Bucky a gun before shooting the soldier.

"I had him on the ropes," Bucky insists.

"Sure you did," Steve laughs.

Something flickers in Bucky's eyes. Without thinking twice, he pushes Steve out of the way before the plasma shots hit his friend. He rolls away from Steve, picking up the shield.

The Hydra soldier fires on Bucky again and the force of it knocks him out of the damaged train.

"Bucky!" Steve cries in desperation as he reaches out for his friend. He would not let his friend fall.

Bucky reaches out to Steve, the railing he was clinging to starting to crumble.

Steve barely manages to grab Bucky's hand and pull him back into the train car before the railing falls away completely.

Bucky stares at the blurred canyon below. "Damn…Thanks." Bucky says gratefully, punching Steve in the shoulder.

Steve frowns in anger. "You could have fallen! That wasn't exactly stable!"

"Like you would let me fall, besides we have to finish this," Bucky says with a confident smirk. Steve nods in agreement.

* * *

 

Three days later, they're raiding the Hydra hanger. Steve and Bucky are fighting side by side in an attempt to get a hold of the bomber. Peggy and Colonel Phillips drive up to them in Red Skull's car and they both hop in, giving chase.

"You ready for this?" Steve asks uncertainly.

"We got to get on that bomber Stevie," Bucky replies.

"Yes we do," Steve says sadly before the car starts to catch up.

Suddenly, Peggy pulls Steve down for a kiss. "Good Luck," she says.

Steve feels surprised but pleased, and he glances briefly at Phillips.

"Don't look at me, I ain't kissin' ya," Phillips states gruffly.

Steve smiles and they get on the Bomber. They start taking out the Hydra agents on board trying to get to Schmidt.

"You go get Red Skull, I'll deal with these mooks," Bucky says.

"Don't get killed," Steve teases light-heartedly.

"Back at you," Bucky says.

Steve nods and heads toward Schmidt.

The rest of the battle is brief. Schmidt picks up the tesseract and disintegrates under its power. Steve takes the pilot's seat as Bucky joins him and the tesseract melts its way through the floor, ignored.

"The next bomb is headed for New York. I don't know about you, but I don't know how to disarm it," Bucky says as Steve connects the radio.

"Peggy, come in, can you hear me?"

"I'm here Steve," A British voice comes over the radio.

"It's not looking good Peg. We're going to have to put her in the water."

"Wait, Stevie, there's got to be something else we can do!" Bucky insists.

"I'll get Howard, he can help!"

"There isn't time for that! And there isn't time to argue about this," Steve says, looking at Bucky, a horrible guilty feeling in his heart "I'm so sorry Buck."

Bucky feels scared for a moment before realizing that they really don't have any other options. He nods, and then puts his hand on Steve's shoulder in support as the blonde starts taking the plane down.

"Peggy, you know we never did get that dance," Steve says, trying to lighten the mood. He doesn't want his last words to Peggy to be sad.

"…Next Saturday, eight o'clock at the Stork club, and don't you dare be late," Peggy replies from back at the base, where she felt tears gathering in her eyes. To her he was more than just the serum. Steve mattered to her. She thought she might even love him. But now… Now she was worried she'd never see him again.

"You know, I still don't know how to dance," Steve said.

"I don't care. I'll teach you. Just be there." She couldn't hold the tears back anymore and she lets them fall in spite of her pride.

"We'll have the band play something slow… I'd hate to step on your-" The radio cuts to static.

"Steve? Steve? Bucky? …Steve."

Howard finally arrives and wraps his arm around Peggy as she cried for the men she loved.

 

Howard never saw Steve or Bucky again, despite spending the rest of his life searching for them. Peggy would only see the pair seventy years later, her mind too far gone with Alzheimer's to remember it.

* * *

 

Steve wakes up to the sound of the radio, a baseball game Steve remembers watching playing. Bucky is nowhere to be seen.

Something isn't right.

A woman walks in. "Captain, nice to see you're finally awake. How are you feeling?" she asks calmly.

"Where's Bucky?" he demands in anger.

"He's still recovering from the crash-"

Steve gets out of bed, his posture aggressive. "The game on the radio. It's from May fifth, 1941. I know because I was there," he says. He doesn't trust what's going on, and he better start getting the truth quickly. "What's going on here?"

The woman presses a secret panic button behind her back where Steve can't see.

Not getting his answers fast enough, Steve shoves past her and runs out, panicking when nothing is familiar, making his way outside.

Everything is so loud and so bright, and there are cartoons all over buildings higher than he's ever seen, but he can't see the projectors, and the air is thick. He is quickly surrounded by black vehicles and a man wearing an eye patch and long coat steps in front of him.

"You've been asleep for a long time, Cap," the man with the eye patch says.

"How long?" Steve asks.

"About seventy years," the man replies.

Steve stares at the man.

"You okay there captain?" The man asks again.

"Yeah…It's just…I had a date…" He looks around, a little overwhelmed. "And Bucky…" Bucky's probably dead then. Bucky didn't have the super soldier serum. This was like a nightmare, and all Steve wants is to wake up.

"Sergeant Barnes hasn't woken up yet."

"Yet?" Steve looks at the man with the eyepatch. It wasn't possible.

"I'm Nick Fury. If you'll come with me, I'll answer your questions, and I can show you your friend," he says.

Steve simply nods and follows him, not sure he had any other options.

But Bucky was alive.


	2. What If He's In A Coma?

Steve rides with Fury in the direction the one eyed man had come from. The building is underground and the hallway Fury leads him down is white and sterile. Fury leads Steve to Bucky’s hospital room. Florescent lights blare brighter than any Steve’s ever see, and the technology Bucky seems to be hooked up to is foreign and look like science fiction.

“What is this? What’s he attached to?” He asks, afraid to touch anything. The realization washes over him that there, hooked up to a bunch of machines he didn’t recognize or understand, was the only person he had left. He stares at Bucky, walking over to him. He notes painfully that the machines weren’t the only thing unusual with this. Most of Bucky’s left arm is missing, only the shoulder remaining, wrapped up in white bandages.

“It’s medical equipment. All that stuff is what’s keeping him alive,” Fury explains.

“...My god…I’m sorry Bucky, I’m so sorry,” He says quietly to the unconscious form of Bucky Barnes.

“He most likely lost the arm in the crash. The two of you were pretty jostled, and you both got thrown to the floor. According to our forensics team you were sitting and he wasn’t, so he got thrown farther than you. By all rights you should both be dead.”

“Good god…why aren’t we?”

“For you, we figure Erskine’s serum kept you alive. For him, we have no idea how he’s alive, but he must have something in his system. He definitely didn’t take the time on ice as well as you did.”

Steve sits down in a chair near Bucky’s bed, unable to take all of this standing anymore. This was so much. There was too much to take in all at once, and Steve was struggling to cope with it.

“I’ll send someone in to debrief you in a bit. Let you have your space.”

Steve nods shortly. Peggy would know how to handle this. She’d know what to do. Was she still alive? Were any of his friends still alive? Was Bucky going to wake up soon? What would they do then? How would he take this? Steve can’t help thinking it was all his fault. If he had left Bucky in the car with Peggy and Colonel Phillips, then Bucky wouldn’t be here. Bucky is his best friend. He deserves better than to be an amputee stuck out of time, out cold in a hospital bed.

"Tell agent Jones when you're ready to be debriefed." Fury offers Steve his hand. "Welcome to SHIELD, Captain Rogers."

Steve shakes the hand. It's as if he's on autopilot and it takes a few moments for him to fully register the words said.

"SHIELD? What's that?"

"An American intelligence organization focused on finding threats like Hydra and stopping them."

Steve nods, and after a moment’s hesitation he decides to ask a questions that have been bothering him. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"Well I suppose you don't, but we haven't tried to kill you and we're going to great lengths to keep your best friend alive."

"Is everyone..." He swallows thickly. "Everyone I know...are they all d-...are they all gone?" It hurts as much to say the words as it did to think them.

"It's 2012, Cap. If they're not dead, they're old. Peggy Carter is still around. Howard Stark's son is around. A few of our agents are descendants of the Howling Commandos. And technically he's still breathing," He adds, gesturing to Bucky.

"The war...?"

"We won, thanks to you."

"Can I have a little while? This is...a lot to take in."

"Of course. Take your time." Fury leaves the hospital room.

Howard is dead. The commandos are dead. The war is literally history. It's 2012. Neither he nor Bucky had aged in seventy years. Bucky is missing an arm. Bucky hasn't woken up. Everything looks different. Even cars look so strange. In the car he'd been told that they were in New York, but it looks nothing like the New York he used to know. Steve isn't sure what to do with all this new information. He's mourning the loss of his friends, and trying to take in this new century all at once and it's too much for him to handle.

The machine beeps out Bucky's heartbeat to the rise and fall of his chest, far too slow to be considered stable, but at least it proves he's alive. And Captain America does something that his fans would never imagine their big, strong, patriotic hero doing. He cries. Steve puts his hand on Bucky's remaining one. He doesn't know what to do at this point. He needs Bucky to pull through. Maybe if he had someone going through this with him it would be easier, or at least he hopes so. "Please wake up..." Steve whispers. "I need you."

Bucky doesn't respond to the cry for help, remaining unconscious. He doesn't jump up at Steve's crying to comfort him. He doesn't move a single muscle. The heart monitor beeps at the same slow pace as before. Steve lets himself cry for a while before pulling himself together. Bucky would need help through this too. Steve watches Bucky for any signs of waking up. What else could he do? He has nowhere to go, no home, no one to go home to. But there's nothing. Bucky shows no signs of waking up any time soon. So Steve just sits there, ignoring the doctors and nurses that come in to check on his comatose best friend. He doesn't say a word, just watching Bucky lay there.

* * *

A few hours pass and Steve hasn't left his seat at Bucky's side. Fury returns with a tall woman, her chestnut hair pulled back into a bun. Steve releases Bucky's hand when they walk in.

"Captain, this is Agent Hill. She's here to debrief you," Fury explains.

"We thought you might prefer if we did your debrief in here," Agent Hill adds. Steve nods in confirmation. Agent Hill finds another chair and sits. "You must have a lot of questions." Fury leaves.

"What happens now?"

"You recover physically first. Then you figure out what you want to do. You'll always have a job here at SHIELD if you want it. It's the least we can do. We'll have safe apartments chosen for the two of you. You try to build your new lives."

Steve looks away from Bucky for the first time and looks Agent Hill in the eye. "Be honest with me. Will he ever wake up?"

"Honestly, we don't know. We're trying, but this isn't something we have much experience in. You were easy. You practically took care of yourself. He lost a lot of blood with the arm and his cells aren't regenerating at near the rate yours are, but that they're regenerating at all is surprising. It looks like they regenerate just fast enough to survive the ice."

"Off record. Do you think he'll wake up?"

"Like I said, I don't think he should be alive at all right now. That he is, to me, means he has some sort of a chance."

Steve nods and returns his gaze to Bucky. "Everything is different. By now you've probably managed to replicate Erskine's serum. That means I'm outdated. Why would you want me to work here?" They'd had seventy years and plenty of his blood, surely they'd figured out how to make the formula by now.

"Why wouldn't we want you working for us? You're Captain America. You're a living legend. Your skills and abilities would be invaluable."

"Again, I'm outdated. Surely you have more modern super soldiers by now, with all the same skills. Legend or not the war is over. What purpose would I serve?"

"You're not a model car, Captain. There is no "out dating" you and no "newer versions". You're a young man with experience in this field, who will probably want work. Plus Director Carter would have our heads if we didn't offer you a place here," Agent Hill clarifies.

Steve's head snaps up at the mention of the name Carter.

"And just so you know we never recreated Erskine's serum. All samples of your blood were lost before SHIELD was even founded."

"Director Carter?" He says in surprise.

"Peggy Carter was one of our founding members. Technically she's retired but we still call her director out of respect."

"You know I would have trusted you a lot faster had you lead with that." He looks back down at his hands.

"Yes but we wanted to see what you would do otherwise. You're welcome to visit her later if you want."

Steve nods silently.

"You have a lot to catch up on. There have been a few wars since the one you helped end."

"I'm still amazed we won the second Great War. How many have there been since?" He looks at agent Hill

"Five, a couple of them protecting our allies."

"Where are the flying cars? Howard was in the prototype stage before..."

"You'd have to ask Stark Jr. About that one."

"I thought the future was supposed to be better. But the air outside was so much thicker than it used to be. So far not much has improved."

"Yes, the air is more polluted, but it wasn't our generation that started the use of fossil fuels. We are trying for alternative energy, another thing you should ask Stark Jr about."

"Is that really his name?" Steve makes a face. Howard could be a bit full of himself sometimes, but he wouldn’t name his son after himself.

"No, his name is Tony. I just know you used to be friends with Howard Stark, so I figured Stark Jr would be more relatable to you."

"Howard was a good man."

"He helped Director Carter found SHIELD."

"When did he die?"

"Car crash in 1991."

Steve swallows thickly. "And the others?"

"All of the Commandos died of old age within the past ten years."

"...It wasn't supposed to happen like this..."

"Would you have preferred we left you in the ice?"

"I would have preferred an alternative to crashing the plane that didn't involve blowing up New York. I would have preferred to live in my own time period. I would have preferred to see the war end for myself, but that isn't an option."

"No, it's not. It's generally agreed that we shouldn't attempt time travel. You're stuck here. But at least you're not stuck here alone."

"I might end up that way." He looks sadly at Bucky.

"I won't deny that."

Steve doesn't know what to do. Bucky is still just lying there. If not for the rise and fall of his chest and the slow beeping of the heart monitor, Steve would swear he was dead. At any point his heart could stop, and Steve would be left alone. As it is, Steve isn't sure if it's a blessing that he wasn't here alone or a curse that his best friend was hurt so badly in the process.

“I promise that we’re doing everything we can for him. Some of the best doctors in the world work for SHIELD,” She assures, trying to comfort the grieving super soldier the only way she could.

Bucky is still alive, for now, but Steve already feels as if he’s on his own here. “I believe you.”


	3. What If Phones Were Complicated?

“…What do I do now?”

“Well, we have an apartment for you. There is a temporary one nearby because we thought you’d want to be nearby because we thought you’d want to be near Sergeant Barnes in case he wakes up. You can go take a shower, eat something, we’ll get you some new clothes, food for the apartment, you know, the basic things, and we have people to help you catch up with history and popular culture when you’re ready. Yours and Sergeant Barnes’ finances have already been taken care of. You’ve been paid for your services in the armed forces and adjustments have been made to account for inflation. There is also interest on your accounts that has been added in and whatever the country decides to give you for crashing a plane into the ocean to keep us from getting blown up," Hill explains.

“Okay…” He isn’t quite sure what he’s expected to say.

“What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know, I honestly don’t. There’s just … there’s so much…”

“I know. I know this is a lot. And honestly? This is just the beginning.”

“How much more could there possibly be?”

“Well you have seventy years of history to catch up on. You can skip the disco music. There has been a lot of presidents, a lot of social movements. We can start with current events, such as the current president and some of the major events of the past couple years, and you’ll need help adjusting to the new technology.”

Steve just stares at her.

“Well, for example, do you remember hearing about a Turing Machine? It was created in 1944 to break the enigma code.”

“No.”

“Okay… okay you know what a phone is, right?”

“Yes.”

Hill pulls her phone out of her pocket. “This is a phone now.” She offers it to Steve.

“…Where are all the buttons?” Steve looks at the small rectangle she's offering, with a round indentation at the one end and curved corners.

“They’re on the screen.” She pushes the button and the phone screen lights up. She unlocks it and Steve stares with amazement. But there weren't any buttons!

“I don’t understand…”

“The screen has sensors underneath it that can recognize when someone is touching it.” She swipes the screen to change the page.

“How are there different screens? And where’s the phone part? And how is it so small?” His questions rattle off, one after another.

Hill presses the phone button. “Here’s the phone. We’ve been able to make it smaller through advancements in technology. I’m not entirely certain how they do it, but they do.”

“Where’s the part you speak into?”

“At the bottom here.” She points them out.

“Why are they there?”

“Because you hold the phone like this and that’s where your mouth is closer to.” Agent Hill displays the way a phone is held.

“If it’s supposed to be a phone, then why do you have to press a button to get to the phone part?”

“Well, it does other things too. I’ve got a calendar on here, and a calculator, even music.” She presses the respective buttons, showing Steve.

“Why does a phone need a calendar or a calculator?” Steve just looks confused.

“Mostly because we can. People always have phones on them, so it’s convenient to have the calendar and everything else on it.” She exits the apps.

“Everyone has one of these?”

“Most people do. Or they have something similar.”

“How do you fit so much stuff in there?”

“People smarter than me can answer that better.”

Steve frowns, wanting to know how the tiny box phone thing works. “Why is it a box?”

“Because that makes it look sleek.”

“…But it’s a box,” He says as if it's the most confusing yet obvious thing in the world.

“Buts it’s a smaller box than the mobile phones of your time.”

“Well…yes.” Steve thinks back to a few days ago, communicating with his team through the mobile phones of his day. The difference was like night and day.

“Mobile phones just stayed box shaped.”

“But…Why? And where’s the antenna?” 

“We don’t need the antenna anymore. Got it to work without one.”

“But how?” Steve is just getting more confused. This was only giving him more questions.

“We’ve made it so it can work without one. Like I said, you’ll want to talk to someone else for details. I don’t know how all of it works. Sorry.”

“How is it that everyone can afford one of these? I didn’t have a mobile phone until I started doing real missions in the field. They seem really expensive and…breakable.”

“Well, with advancement in technology it eventually became less expensive. Like how the radio became common in your time.”

“Oh…Is the radio on the phone too?” He asks curiously, remembering when he and Bucky would listen to the radio in their tiny apartment. For Steve that was only a year or so ago.

“Sure, if you want it to be.”

“Why wouldn’t you want it to be?”

“Well, there’s different kinds of radio. I have one that’s just music and not much talk radio, or there are comedy radio stations, or talk stations. Or you could just buy the music and put it on here, or movies or videos.”

“Videos? Do people still go to the cinema? Where do you get your news? Does it all go to the phone too? Does the other side of the phone do anything? And what does this part do?” Steve says pointing to a small circle on the back of the phone in the corner.

“Yes, we go to the cinema, we get the news from the radio, television, newspapers, and online. I’ll explain what online is later. And that is a camera.”

“It's so small... So the news doesn’t go to the phone? ”

“It goes to the device, yes.”

Hill starts to play Journey on Pandora. 

“What’s this?” Steve tilts his head. He supposes it was probably the sort of music people just listened to now. An entire song, all inside of a very small telephone. He isn't quite sure what to think of it just yet. At the very least he didn't dislike it. 

“Radio. The song is called ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ by Journey.”

“...When is it from?”

“The eighties.”

“That's thirty years ago then... This must be a classic to you…I can’t believe I’m in my nineties…” Steve says quietly, his age suddenly hitting him.

“If it makes you feel any better, biologically, you’re still in your twenties.”

“Before the serum I didn’t think I’d survive to my forties…” He thinks back to cold nights with Bucky in the small apartment that they shared, most of which he was certain would fit in this room, he remembers keeping them both awake with his coughing. Bucky insisting that it was fine and it wasn't his fault every time he'd apologize.

“Well you’ve still got a long life ahead of you.”

“That depends on a lot of things. If I join you, then for all I know I’ll get shot in the field and die.” He remembers signing up to do exactly that several times not terribly long ago. then he thinks again, and supposes that technically it was quite a long time ago indeed. Decades ago.

“That’s a little morbid but yes, there’s always that. You _should_ have a long life ahead of you," Hill qualifies.

“I’m going to be the oldest man in the world…” He isn’t sure how to feel about this.

“No you won’t.”

“What do you mean?” Steve shakes his head. Surely scientific advancements hadn't been  _that_ great?

“He’s older,” she says, pointing to Bucky, still unconscious beside Steve.

“Whatever it is that kept him alive in the ice isn’t as powerful as what I have. So…so even if he does wake up… If we die a natural death, then I guess I’ll likely end up outliving him.” Steve's gaze returns to his comatose best friend. 

“You are morbid today aren’t you?”

“All of my friends are either dead or comatose or laying in a bed, ancient, and I’m here on my own after having expected to die, and for me that was just yesterday. What do you expect?” Steve raises an eyebrow. He was honestly slightly surprised he was holding it together this well, though part of him was slightly convinced that this could all be an incredibly strange and elaborate dream.

“Point taken, Captain. Anyway, Medicine has had a lot of breakthroughs. We have vaccines for most everything now. Got rid of smallpox entirely.”

“Chicken pox?” He'd nearly died of chicken pox when he was a kid.

“There’s a vaccine for that. Also polio, measles, mumps, and pretty much every pox or fever you can think of.”

“Your medical advancements are very substantial.” He can't help but think of how many of those he'd had at one point in his youth or another, how many of them had nearly killed him, or had killed or disfigured someone he'd known

“Yes they are. Are you sure you don’t want something to eat? It’s been seventy years since the last time you ate.”

His stomach grumbles at the suggestion of a meal. “In all honesty I’m starving.” Even rations didn't sound too bad.

“I’ll go get you something to eat.” Agent Hill stands to do just that.


	4. What If There Were Grandkids

While Agent Hill is getting food, Steve goes back to watching Bucky for any signs of waking up while his mind races.

_I need to talk to Peggy. She should know we're alive…sort of. He needs to wake up. Unless sleeping is his body's way of repairing itself? But he isn't just sleeping. He's comatose. It's no way to live a life. It's not really living at all. I wonder if he can still hear everything that's going on around him. I hope he can. It'll make explaining everything that's happened easier. How is he going to react to finding out he's disabled? The whole arm is missing… He needs that arm… He deserves so much better than this. He should've stayed behind with Peggy. I could've handled that plane and Schmidt on my own, and then he would've lived a long, happy life without me. He would've settled down, maybe even with Peggy. At least they'd be happy. Or maybe he would've found someone else. That would've been good too. I wonder if Peggy ever married. I hope she did. She might not have needed a man to take care of her, but she did deserve to be loved. Any man would've been lucky to catch a dame like her. I wonder how she dealt with all this new technology. It baffles me. They've certainly advanced. Mobile phones have become an everyday thing. How does that even happen? That's a stupid question. What was that Turing Machine she was talking about? And the "Online" she mentioned? So much has changed…_

Hill comes back a little while later with some sandwiches, water, and fruit. For some reason Steve's mind latches on to how the tray it all sat on was a brightly colored plastic rather than metal. "I tried to choose simple stuff. I don't know what you'll be able to keep down."

"Okay. How much is for me?"

"As much as you want."

Steve nods and starts eating at a rapid pace, just slow enough to be considered polite. His mother would turn in her grave if he tried to do anything less than polite in front of a lady. He could eat a lot more, but this would hold him for a little while. "Thank you Ma'am."

"Not a problem. Just tell me if you want more."

"Alright," Steve says with a small nod.

"We can go take a look at your apartment later. If you don't like it, we'll find you another one. Like I said, this one was chosen solely because it's close to the hospital."

"I'm not picky. I'd sleep in here if I thought you'd let me," He looks at Bucky. He wants to be here in case Bucky wakes up.

"I'd have to talk to Fury about that."

"I figured." His gaze stays on Bucky. 

"Plus, you'll be more comfortable in an apartment."

"Ma'am, I'm used to sleeping outside." Steve looks at Agent Hill unimpressed. He didn't need to be comfortable right now.

"I know, but you don't have to now."

"I honestly don't mind. I'd rather be here, just in case he wakes up." If Agent Hill had simply said it couldn't be done, that there was some kind of protocol or rule against it, he might have just left it alone, but to him she seemed insistent that he shouldn't want to, and regardless he wasn't in the most agreeable mental state for various reasons.

"You'll be the first to know if anything changes, I promise."

"Do you remember how much I panicked? He may not be as strong as I am, but he's still going to panic. And if he panics he could hurt himself. If he has a familiar face nearby then he'll calm down faster," Steve says, starting to get annoyed. 

"Which is why we'll call you. And you didn't panic right away."

"That's because everything around me looked like the forties, and while I knew it was off, it took me a bit to realize just how far off... He'd do this for me." He looks at Agent Hill. He isn't sure if she just doesn't understand why he needs to be here or if she actually isn't being given the option to let him choose.

"And we'd probably make him go to an apartment too."

"I told you you wouldn't let me stay." Steve returns his gaze to Bucky.

"Well we can't exactly stop you," She points out, though Steve feels certain that if they wanted to they likely could.

"I'm not up to fighting the reason my best friend is still alive."

"We're not going to hold him against you or anything. You're allowed to disagree with us."

"Oh believe me, when I disagree with you, you'll know it." Bucky had always said that he'd fight with a fence if given the chance. 

"Good."

"But that man is basically all I have right now. I'd rather be here if he needs me." He looks at Agent Hill.

"I understand that. But you have to start branching out to the rest of the world."

"And how do I do that when a phone that is apparently completely normal is completely baffling to me?" He says with a raised eyebrow. 'Branching out' isn't going to be quite so simple as she's trying to insinuate.

"You'll learn. What I'm saying is, you can't be each other's only worlds. We'll help you ease into the new century."

"We've been thrown in. We don't have that option."

"Yes, but someone has to teach you how to swim still."

He looks at Bucky. How could he swim when his whole world was sinking? Steve shakes his head and starts to clean up from his meal.

"I'll get that for you," She insists, and starts taking over the clean-up.

"I can get it." He wasn't an invalid, especially not now. He could clean up after himself

"I know, but you're still technically a patient, and even if you weren't, I get this weird sense that I should be treating you like a guest."

"Why?"

"I dunno. Like I said, a weird sense. I guess because you're in a SHIELD facility and I'm vice Director, and you're not technically an agent."

"Alright… When can I see Peggy?"

"Whenever you want. She's in a retirement facility in DC, though. So just say the word and I'll get someone to take you."

"Thank you," He nods.

"Of course. Just give us the word. We really do want to help you. We just need you to tell us what you want or need sometimes." Agent Hill throws the trash away and returns soon after.

"…How am I supposed to handle all of this?"

"The best way you can."

"How would you handle being thrown into a new century?" He looks at her.

Hill thinks about her answer for a moment. "I think…I would try to get a sense of normalcy before trying to adapt to the differences in lifestyle. Does that help?"

"We'll see. I haven't tried to put it to use yet." He goes back to watching Bucky. His heartbeat was still slow.

"Oh, by the way we have your shield. It's in the armory, and you can have it back whenever you want."

"Good. I'll need that back."

"I'll have someone bring it over." She pulls out her phone and types out a few things.

"What are you doing?"

"It's like sending a letter. Here, I'll show you." She moves over to him and shows him her phone screen. It's a text message to someone called Trip.

"…I don't understand. How is this like sending a letter?"

"You type in what you want to say and you send it and that is turned into electronic signals which go to the phone of the person I want to send it to. Then their phone displays the message."

"Why don't you just talk on the phone?"

"Because it's a quick message and I don't want to interrupt him if he's talking to someone or training." Another message appears on her screen with Trip's reply. 'Yes Ma'am. I'll be there soon.'

"Who's Trip?"

"Agent Antonie Triplett. He's one of the agents we have on call. I think you'll want to meet him."

"Does everyone do the electric phone letter thing?"

"It's called texting and it comes standard in most mobile phones."

"How does it know whose phone you're texting to?" He asks confused.

"Each phone has a number, and it sends the signal to the phone with the number I tell it to send to."

"Well yes, I got that, but why is there a name instead of a number? Didn't you type the number in?"

"I have a bunch of numbers stored in the phone. It's a contacts list. This is the number for Trip's phone so I have it assigned to his name. Because I put the number down under Trip's name in the contact list, the phone displays his name when that number contacts my phone."

"So you don't have to remember the numbers?"

"Well, I memorize the important ones just in case I'm ever in a situation where I don't have my phone on me, like if I'm on a mission, but most people rarely remember numbers anymore."

"How do you communicate with your team if you don't have a phone on a mission?"

"Usually I get a mission phone that _doesn't_ contain the names and numbers of all of our top agents. Or we come up with a plan beforehand and stick to it, or I'll acquire another phone during the mission. Or there's codes and communication links, which are like really small walkie-talkies, or I just talk to them face to face. Plus I'm not always on a team."

"Oh."

"And the phone is set to delete everything if someone tries to break into it."

"Wow."

"Beginning to see why everyone has one of these?"

"Definitely."

There's a knock at the door and a young man walks in holding Steve's shield, which has been painted and polished so it looks like new. "Uh…you wanted this back, sir," The young man says, holding the shield out to Steve.

Steve stands and takes the shield, looking it over. "It looks like new. Thank you." The last time he'd seen it, where the paint wasn't chipped it was singed or cracked from taking bullets and shots from various other Hydra weapons. Clearly they'd cleaned it, given it a new coat of paint, and a nice shine. He even dared to say it looked  _better_ than when he'd first gotten it. 

The man nods. "Antonie Triplett, it's an honor to meet you, sir." Trip offers Steve his hand. "I've heard a lot about you."

Steve shakes Trip's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Antonie."

"You…uh…You worked with my grandfather…Gabriel Jones."

"You're Gabe's grandson? Wow." This was odd. His team was a ragtag bunch of bachelors just yesterday. And today they got married, had kids, who grew up, got married, and had kids of their own, who were now all grown up. "He must've been proud when you joined SHIELD."

Trip nods. "I think he was, sir. He did a lot of work to help it get off the ground."

"With Peggy running it I'll bet... How long have you been working for them?"

"I became a full member two years ago, sir."

"And…When did... when did your grandfather pass?"

"…It's been five years now sir. He used to tell me a lot of stories from when he was in the Howling Commandos."

"Yeah? You should tell them to me. I'll point out which parts he embellished," He says with a small, slightly sad smile.

"He said you used to go in alone on missions. And about the time you had to jump onto a speeding train. He said that was crazy."

"Yeah, it was a little crazy. But it worked. We captured Zola alive and brought him back to the base. He was the first Hydra operative not to crunch a pill upon capture." For Steve, this mission was less than a week ago, memories still fresh in his mind.

"Yeah, he said as much. He also liked to talk about the time Dernier tried to make explosives out of random junk they found lying around, and you came in and they thought you'd be mad, and instead you sat down and listened in and suggested things. But when you finally succeeded in making the bomb it went off and, I quote, 'Brought down the wrath of the angry brunettes who were actually in charge.' "

Steve laughs. "Yeah, they were pretty angry. Then I got the 'you could've gotten yourself killed' scolding from the both of them."

"He always used to say that if it weren't for Aunt Peg and Sergeant Barnes, half of the time the plan would have been to go in, shoot the bad guys, and go home instead of an actual plan."

"Now that's not true. I'm a tactician for a reason."

"He also liked to talk about how you and the rest of the team would stand up for him and Morita."

"We're family, albeit an odd one. We stick-…We stuck up for each other, no matter what."

"That's what he said. He always spoke very highly of both of you."

"He's the one who deserved the praise. He was a great man."

"Not you?"

"I couldn't have done most of what I did without my team. And Bucky gets extra praise for putting up with me when I was small, stupid, and getting into fights I had no chance of winning." Steve looks down. 

"I don't think you do yourself enough credit."

"That's what Peggy always said."

"Aunt Peg is usually right in my experience."

"Yeah… Yeah she usually is," Steve nods, thinking of Peggy.

"If…if it's okay, I need to go now. I'm supposed to meet my new commanding officer in forty minutes."

"Of course."

"I'm glad I got to talk with you."

"Me too. Now go on. If you're on time you're fifteen minutes late." Steve gestures to the door, sending him off.

"Yes sir. Agent Hill." He nods to Hill and hurries off.

"...He seems like a good kid." 

"He is. We have high hopes for him."

Steve returns to his seat, shield in hand, his mood fully deflated. "…They're all really gone…Gabe, Morita, Dougan…all of them. All that's left are me, Peggy, and Bucky…"

"They all lived long lives. They all seemed happy, and we made sure they were taken care of in their old age. We take care of our own."

"Good."

Agent Hill's phone rings and she answers. "This is Hill… Okay… Okay I'll be there in a minute. Get Romanov to meet me." She hangs up the phone. "I'm sorry, there's something happening in Belarus. I have to go brief an agent and come up with a plan."

"Okay. Be safe."

"Thank you, I'll try. I'll send someone to help you get clothing and show you where your apartment is and all of that."

"Alright."

Hill nods goodbye and leaves. Steve goes back to watching Bucky for anything, the slightest raise in heartbeat, anything that might signify his waking up.


	5. What If He Woke Up?

An Agent Sitwell had come in and convinced a reluctant Steve to take a short tour of the facilities, get a phone with a few numbers pre-loaded, including the number for Peggy Carter's retirement facility and a few agents, get some new clothes, learn a little about what a laptop was and what the 'online' Agent Hill had mentioned earlier was, and even briefly visit the apartment Steve knew he'd never use. After that, Steve started to lose his patience, wanting to be returned to his comatose best friend as, to Steve's mind, the chances of him waking up without Steve there rose. So Agent Sitwell brought Steve back to the hospital room with more food.

Steve looks over his friend, but nothing has changed. The longer this goes on, the more nervous Steve becomes for Bucky.

"Honestly, you're taking all of this in better than I thought you would."

"…You honestly think that just because I'm able to put up a decent front I'm okay? You forget that I worked in show business, Agent Sitwell." Steve takes a deep breath and puts on a fake smile like he used to wear on stage selling war bonds. "Every Bond you buy puts another bullet in your best guy's gun," he says in imitation of his old gig before rolling his eyes and dropping the smile. "I'm terrified. I don't know anything that's going on and everyone I know, who were all just fine yesterday, or at least for me it was yesterday, are either dead or lying in a bed on the brink of it. I crashed a plane, then I wake up and someone is pretending to be my nurse, so I get out of there and I run outside and it's like I'm on a different planet."

"I realize how absolutely disorienting this is. I'm sure it's terrifying and confusing, but you seem to be taking it in stride pretty well."

"I don't really have much of a choice. If Bucky wakes up then he's going to have it worse. And I'm going to have to take care of him and I can't do that as it all stands now. So I am dealing with this as best I can. I don't get a choice."

"He's not going to be much worse off than you. You think that just because his arm is missing he won't be able to figure things out like you? Or is it because you woke up earlier?"

"Right now my primary concern is that he might not wake up at all…" Steve says quietly.

"The doctor's seem confident that he will."

"His heartbeat is so slow."

"He's comatose," Sitwell says, as if that made it better.

"That doesn't help."

"Well, the body's functions slow down when you're comatose. The lowered heart rate isn't a problem."

"Can we not talk about this?"

"Yeah, sure. Okay…oh, I know, inflation is going to be a shock for you."

Steve looks confused.

"How much was a chocolate bar in your day?"

"Usually about a nickel."

"They usually go for about a dollar now."

Steve's jaw drops. "I'm…I'm sorry?" He stares at Sitwell.

"A dollar isn't considered much right now."

"A…A whole dollar just for a chocolate bar?"

"On average, yeah."

"Good God almighty…" Steve looks up.

"Told you you'd be shocked."

"How the hell… When did that happen?"

"It happened gradually."

"This is…I don't…" He runs a hand through his hair. One more thing he didn't know how to handle or what to do with. "I know it's been seventy years…but how do prices go up that much?"

"Yeah, like I said, a dollar isn't much anymore. Don't worry, we're putting all that into account with your finances."

"Alright." Steve has no choice but to trust him on that.

"From what I've gathered, you're pretty well off now."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't have access to your accounts but I've been told it's well over $500,000."

"Five…good god…"

"And yes, that's still a lot of money now. Barnes has about the same, and you're likely to get more."

"This is…I don't…" 

"…Cap?"

Steve just shakes his head.

"I'll just…give you some space." Agent Sitwell leaves.

"Five hundred thousand….Bucky, I don't know if you can hear me, but could you do me a favor and wake up? I don't know what to do. I just got told that we each have more than five hundred thousand dollars waiting for us in the bank." Bucky doesn't show any signs of waking up. "The whole world has turned upside down. Mobile phones aren't really mobile phones anymore. They're all kinds of other things. And the buildings are huge and they have all kinds of cartoons playing on them all the time. And there's this thing called a 'computer' and I feel like I'm getting lost in it all, Buck, and I don't know what to do." There's still no reaction from Bucky. "But why am I telling you all this? You won't know anything more than I will. And you probably can't hear a word I'm saying. Just…just stop being such a jerk and wake up already, please." Steve stays in his chair, holding his shield, feeling small and alone, two things he hasn't felt in a long time. Bucky remains unresponsive. Steve takes Bucky's hand.

After a while, Steve falls asleep, still holding Bucky's hand, his head on the edge of the hospital bed. Agent Sitwell returns to check on Steve and finds him asleep. He shakes Steve's shoulder. "Captain Rogers?"

Steve jerks awake, reaching instinctively for a gun that's no longer there. "We under attack? ...Oh." He realizes his surroundings and remembers what's happened. He looks at Bucky, still in exactly the same position he'd been in when Steve fell asleep. Steve releases Bucky's hand.

"No sir, we aren't under attack. You fell asleep. I thought you might want to move somewhere a bit more comfortable than a chair."

"I'm fine, thank you."

"…Do you want to have a mattress moved in here, so you can stay with him?"

"Please?"

"I'll go find someone to move a mattress." He leaves, returning a few minutes later with another agent, a mattress, some sheets, blankets, and a pillow.

"Thank you."

"Of course, Captain."

"Good night."

"Good night, sir." Sitwell and the other agent leave. Steve makes up the mattress and lays down. Bucky would scold him if he didn't get enough sleep. He eventually falls into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

 

It's been three weeks since Steve woke up from the ice. He'd tried to develop a sense of normalcy, but even the gym equipment was foreign and fragile. He'd tried to do things, just for something to do, but that did little more than frustrate him, so in the end he always went back to Bucky's room, where he still lay comatose. The doctors had moved him a few times to keep him from developing sores, but there was still no sign of him waking up. The only sign of him still being alive was the slow rise and fall of his chest. No one's approached Steve to talk to him about it, but he can hear the doctors when they don't think he's listening and forget how well he can hear. Their optimism had quickly faded. This wasn't any kind of life. He wasn't even responsive. They'd done a brain scan, and while he's not exactly dead, he isn't responding to outside stimuli. They were talking about just pulling his plug, seeing if he pulled through. "That would be merciful," They said. "Let him and the Captain move on," They said.

Steve was supposed to be the optimistic one, and he tried to stay that way, for Bucky's sake, but he'd already lost everything else. Why should he get to keep his best friend? He was losing hope. What would he do if he lost Bucky too?

* * *

 

The first thing Bucky knew after the plane crash, and the cold, and the pain in his arm, was that he was in a bed, and his mouth tasted like sandpaper that had been dunked in rotten eggs. He tried to open his eyes, but everything was too bright and he flinched and tried to shade his face with his hand, but that didn't work for some reason.

Steve had been watching, and he noticed when Bucky's heart rate sped up to something close to normal and Bucky tried to open his eyes. "Bucky?"

"Stevie?" His voice is rough and cracked from lack of use.

"Bucky! You're awake! Oh thank god…"

Bucky opens his eyes slowly. Why is everything so bright? "Are we dead? I thought we died..." Why isn't his hand obeying him? Oh well. He raises his right hand instead, shielding his eyes. At least that one was working.

"We're not dead. Believe me it's a hell of a lot more insane sounding than that."

"...Did Peggy and Howard find us? Are you okay?"

"No, they didn't find us and I'm a hell of a lot better now that you're awake. I was so scared you wouldn't wake up."

"How long have I been out?" He asks, eyes adjusting to the light. They're in a hospital. A pretty nice one at that, so they clearly haven't captured. There's an IV sticking out of his arm that pinches, but IVs always pinch, so that wasn't strange. He looks at Steve. He seems okay. A bit tired but he's most likely been here most of the time.

"That's the bit you're not going to believe. You and I were frozen in ice for seventy years."

"Yeah right, what really happened?" He tries to push himself up a bit, but his left arm won't work. He falls to the left since there's nothing holding him up on that side.

"Stop trying to move, Buck, I'm serious. The Commandos...they're gone. All of them are dead. I would know, I've been awake for three weeks."

"I don't... I don't understand... What do you mean they're dead?! And where the hell is my arm?!" He's verging on absolute panic.

Steve puts a hand on Bucky's arm. "Bucky, you need to calm down, please."

A doctor rushes in, alerted by Bucky's rising heart rate. Bucky jerks when he comes in. "Sergeant Barnes, I need you to calm down, please."

Bucky hugs what's left of his left arm close to his chest. "What happened..." He says, slightly calmer now. Seventy years was impossible. They'd be dead. But the doctor was dressed weird. And so was Steve. And he was hooked up to so many machines and he didn't know what they were or what they did or why he was hooked up to them or why they were clamped onto his arm and fingers and attached to his skin, and the only thing keeping him from ripping them off was Steve's hand on his arm assuring him that he was safe.

"The plane crashed and you got tossed around. They think you lost your arm during that. The serum kept me alive, and best we can tell, whatever Hydra did to you when they held you captive kept you alive. So when we were found they defrosted us, and you went into a comatose state. I woke up two weeks ago. Peggy's still around. The commandos died of old age. Howard died in a car crash in 1991."

"Seventy years?" Bucky says, looking at the doctor in disbelief.

"Sir, I know it's hard to swallow, but the year is 2012," the doctor assures.

"I'm sorry, Bucky."

"What do you mean you're sorry?" Bucky asks angrily.

"Well, if I hadn't let you get on that plane-"

"No, you don't get to apologize to me for my choices. I got on that damn plane with you of my own free will, and you can't take credit for that. If I had the option to go back and change it, I'd do the same thing over again. I wouldn't leave you on your own."

"But Bucky-"

"I'm lying in a hospital bed, short an arm, stuck out of time, and you're going to argue with me on this?" Bucky raises an eyebrow at Steve.

"I'm-"

"If you apologize again, Rogers, I swear..."

"Bucky you haven't even seen this century yet-" Steve tries

"Sounds like a pain to handle on your own. Good thing I'm here to take care of you. Sorry it took me so long to join you, but I don't have superhuman steroids."

"Bucky, everything is different here."

"Well, it has been seventy years and what are you doing?" He says as the doctor approaches with medical equipment.

"I'm checking your vitals." The doctor presses a stethoscope to Bucky's chest. "Continue talking."

"Bucky, guess the price of a chocolate bar."

"I guess you're about to tell me chocolate doesn't exist anymore. Please tell me chocolate still exists."

"Yes they still exist. How much are they?"

Bucky shrugs, flinching away from the doctor's cold hands.

"It's a dollar."

"...What the actual hell? Why is it so expensive? There's a chocolate shortage isn't there? You can get an entire meal for less than that!"

"Not anymore. A decent meal is about ten dollars, depending on where you eat."

"How do people eat?"

"People get paid more now than we use to."

"Oh...I guess that makes sense."

"They adjusted our finances to account for that. We have over $500,000 each."

Bucky stares at Steve in shock.

"And yeah, that's still a lot in this time."

"I should say so. That's over a million between us. We've got a fortune! Why do we have so much?"

"We're basically legends, and apparently that pays well. We ended the war. It's literally history. I think they're giving us extra for that."

"Well we did crash a plane to keep everyone from blowing up...why the hell are you sticking that in my ear?" he says to the doctor, who is sticking a hospital thermometer in Bucky's ear.

"Taking your temperature," he responds shortly.

"From my ear?"

"Yes."

"Medicine has advanced a lot too. There's a vaccine for just about everything. Though they still haven't cured the common cold," Steve adds.

"Really? Seems like that would've been the easier one."

"It's actually extremely difficult because multiple things cause colds. Only one thing causes, say, polio," the doctor explains.

"And do remember the phones we would use in the field?"

"Yeah, why?"

Steve pulls out the cell phone he'd been given.

Bucky glances at the phone, then at Steve, and back again, wheels spinning. "No….you're kidding…"

"This is a phone. And a camera. And a calendar. And a radio. And apparently a bunch of other things."

"How the hell do they fit it all in there?"

"I have absolutely no idea."

"Let me see." He holds out his hand for the phone and Steve hands it over.

Bucky decides to press the only button he can see and then has no idea what to do. "How is this a phone? All it does is show the time and date, which, wow, it really is 2012."

"No, you touch the screen, see?" He slides and unlocks it. "There's sensors under the glass that know when you touch it."

"That's pretty neat." After a bit of adjusting so that he can work everything with his thumb, he starts playing with the screen, eventually tapping the weather app. "Okay…apparently it's sunny outside…now how do I get back to wherever I was before?"

"You press the button at the bottom."

Bucky does so. "Oh, okay…so…Is this the phone? ...It looks like a phone." He taps the phone button. "Why are there names?"

"The phone part can save numbers in it and when you save the number you can put a name on it so you know whose number it is. Apparently most people don't memorize phone numbers anymore. And then to call them you just touch the name of the person you're trying to call. I honestly don't know most of these people."

"That sounds pretty useful. Why are there names of people you don't know?"

"Because Agent Sitwell thought I should have them in here just in case. Besides, I don't know many people in this time period anyway."

"'Agent'? Like USO?"

"No. It's called SHIELD. Peggy and Howard founded it and its primary purpose is to take down things like Hydra covertly so that people don't panic, and the people who work here are called Agents."

"…So it's like the USO except Peggy and Howard happened to it."

"Yeah. Still don't know what SHIELD stands for though."

"Looks like the two of them did well for themselves."

The doctor writes some things down on a clipboard. "Well, somehow, you seem to be perfectly fine, if a little dehydrated. I'll have someone bring you something to eat."

"Yes!"

"By the way, it stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division," the doctor offers.

"Oh. Sounds like someone just wanted it to spell Shield," Steve says.

"I guarantee you that I will not remember that," Bucky guarantees.

"Anyway, food."

"Yes, food, very important," The doctor says, leaving to arrange a meal to be brought to the room.

"Let's see…I know agent Hill… I met Fury when I woke up, he's the director. Trip is Gabe's grandson. This one is the number for the retirement home Peggy is staying in."

"Why… Oh right… Seventy years. That is so weird. She was twenty-three yesterday…"

"I know."

"We're so old… Seventy years ago… My parents weren't even alive seventy years ago. My grandparents weren't alive…"

"Mine neither."

They stare at each other for a moment.

"We are over 90 years old…" Steve says.

"You don't look a day over twenty-five, buddy."

"Back at you, pal."

"…And everyone else… They're gone… And Gabe has a grandson? He wasn't even married."

"Some of the others have grandkids too. Antonie Triplett just happens to be the only one I've met. Gabe died five years ago."

"Bet he married some French dame."

Steve chuckles. "Yeah, he probably did. Not sure who would marry Dum-Dum Dougan, unless he got better with age."

Bucky laughs "Hey, Dum-Dum was nice enough once you got to know him."

"Yeah." Steve smiles sadly. "I miss them."

"Yeah…"

"They were good men."

"Yeah… Have you gone to visit Peggy yet?"

"I haven't. I wanted to be nearby to help explain things to you if you woke up."

"We should go visit her soon. Think they've told her?"

"I don't know, Buck. Probably. She used to be the director and they still hold a lot of respect for her. As if anyone would dare give her anything less than that."

"Good. I'm glad people started treating her right."

"She deserves respect. She didn't need anyone to take care of her, and she's one of the strongest, most fearless dames I've ever met. Better than most men too."

Bucky looks really sad for a minute. "…How are you? Really? About Peggy…"

Steve sighs. "I don't know, Bucky. I mean Peggy…She was something special."

"She was."

"Still is, of course she is, but she won't be the same anymore. She's lived a long life."

"Yeah… Did she marry?"

"She did," Steve nods.

"How do you feel about that?"

"I'm happy she found love. I'm happy she's happy. I just... thought we had a real shot, you know? And maybe if there had been some other way to save New York rather than crashing the plane, we could've. But I guess... I guess it just wasn't how things were meant to play out," He says sadly.

Bucky puts the phone down and puts his hand on Steve's shoulder. "Well…the way you are now, there'll be loads of dames who'll want to give you a shot. I'm not saying forget about Peggy, just…She can't be the only girl that'll ever matter to you."

"I know, Buck."

"Probably not the most helpful thing to talk about after waking up in the future, but…well it's more normal than trying to figure this out," Bucky says, picking up the phone and showing it to Steve.

Steve chuckles, glad to have his best friend back.


	6. What If Soup Was Difficult?

The doctor comes back in with a simple soup and some water. "Let's see if you can keep this down. You haven't eaten anything in seventy years."

"That's probably why I'm so hungry. Hand that over." The doctor sets the tray down in Bucky's lap and Bucky uses his only hand to pick up the spoon. He glares at the remains of his left arm. "I keep wanting to do stuff with this and…there's nothing there…but it's like I can still feel it."

Steve frowns at that.

"It's called phantom limb syndrome. It's common among amputees. It doesn't hurt, does it?" The doctor asks.

"Not really… It's kinda hard to explain… Kinda like how your arm falls asleep but before the pins and needles kick in…" He pulls the bowl closer to himself and starts eating slowly, trying to keep from spilling the soup. It was difficult with only one hand.

"Need a hand?" Steve asks innocently.

"Yeah, actually, mine seems to have been misplaced. You don't have an extra one lying around, do you?" Bucky says sarcastically.

"Sorry Bucky…"

Bucky sighs. "Stevie stop apologizing. Not like you pushed me onto the plane or cut off my favorite arm." He goes back to trying to eat, being careful not to spill the soup. It wasn't easy to do with just one hand. He frowns in determination. He'd be damned if he couldn't feed himself.

"I can hold the bowl still. Or maybe we can put the soup in a cup and you can drink it? Maybe a sandwich would be easier to eat," Steve says, trying to help.

"I can handle lunch, Rogers."

"Sorry…"

"Don't be sorry. I just have to get used to this."

"I'll be back later to check on you," the doctor says before leaving.

Steve sits in awkward silence.

"Don't look so down. Tell me more about the future."

"Well…technically I guess it's the present now…The cars look different, but they still can't fly and I still don't know why. Agent Hill said to ask Tony, Howard's boy, but I haven't met him."

"So Howard eventually found a woman he wanted to be with for more than one week. That's an accomplishment I guess."

"Yeah, he settled down with some woman named Maria. She died with him in a car crash."

"How old was Tony?"

"He was nineteen."

"At least he wasn't a kid… Is his name in that phone of yours?"

"No, sorry."

"Darn it."

"From what I've heard, he's just like Howard. Women, wild parties, the whole nine."

"That'll be weird..."

"Weird is an understatement."

"Especially considering he'll be about our age."

Steve shakes his head. "Tony's in his forties."

"So in a way he's older than us... that's even weirder..."

"Tell me about it."

Bucky nods. "At least the food seems better."

"Yeah. And there's all kinds of technology things that I need to show you later, and you need to see the city. I walked outside when I woke up... well... I ran, but I was a little bit panicked. They were trying to convince me that it was still the forties but they had a baseball game playing on the radio."

"Sounds like a normal thing to play on the radio."

"Except that you and I had seen that particular game live and in person."

"That was just stupid... Help me find some clothes and you can show me outside."

"You sure you're up for it? I mean you just woke up..." Steve says with a worried look.

"Of course I'm up for it, I suggested it," Bucky responds, rolling his eyes.

"You should finish eating first."

"I'm done."

"Alright... Drink your water and I'll go get you some clothes."

"Sir, Yes Sir." He smirks and does as he's told.

Steve smiles and shakes his head before leaving to get Bucky clothes, not realizing that he should clear this with the doctor.

Bucky places the tray and his water aside and tries to stand on his own. It's hard to get his balance now that his left side is so much lighter than his right and his muscles are weak from only having been moved occasionally by a nurse so that they didn't completely atrophy. He manages to stand, but has to hold onto the bed to stay upright.

Steve returns with a t-shirt, a pair of jeans and slip on shoes. "Bucky, I thought you were going to wait for me."

"Never said that. I just didn't know where the clothes were." He lets go of the bed and wobbles, about to collapse.

Steve tosses the clothes on the bed and catches Bucky around the waist. "Are you sure you can handle this? You can't even stand on your own."

"You said you ran outside as soon as you woke up."

"Well… Yes… But that's a little bit different."

"I'm going outside with or without you, Rogers."

"You aren't going without me. I'll come with you, okay?"

"So weird to hear those words from your mouth rather than mine," Bucky smirks. "I'll be fine. I can do this." He pushes away from Steve and turns to the clothes Steve had tossed on the bed. At least men's clothes haven't changed too much, but they are a lot softer than they used to be. He starts changing slowly. It's more difficult than he thought it would be. He manages with the boxers, and the undershirt, and the t-shirt, but the jeans are quite a bit more difficult. Not only were they hard to pull up, but there was a zipper and a button that he simply could not fasten. He refuses to complain or ask for help, even from Steve.

"Bucky, do you need help?"

"No, I can button my own pants." Eventually he manages to do so, the he slips the shoes on, giving Steve an 'I told you so' look. Steve puts his hands up in defeat. "Now which way is outside?"

"Come with me." Steve starts walking toward the door.

Bucky follows closely, trying to keep up.

Steve goes slowly, wanting to be close to Bucky in case he started to collapse again, and not wanting to push Bucky too hard. He leads Bucky outside, and all around them is modern New York.

Bucky stares. It finally hits him. Everything was gone. Everything he used to know. All his and Steve's old hang outs, their old apartment, it was all most likely gone. All that was left was him and Steve. That was all of their Brooklyn. Their New York. The place they'd grown up in, their home, the place they'd risked their lives for, the place they'd _given_ their lives for. And the one he knew, the one he remembered, the one he loved… It didn't exist anymore. He starts to collapse, but not because his legs are weak and his body is off balance. It's because he doesn't have a home anymore.

Steve catches Bucky and holds him worriedly. "Bucky, are you okay?"

"Everything is different…" Steve brushes away the tears sneaking out of Bucky's eyes. Now that Bucky can really see it, it hits. Everything was gone.

"I know… I know… Let's get inside, okay?" Bucky just nods, grasping Steve's shirt with his hand, mentally unable to do much else. Steve takes most of Bucky's weight and mostly carries him back inside.

"Put me down, Stevie," Bucky says quietly. Steve obeys, pulling away slightly. "Can we go back to the room now?"

"Of course." Steve starts to pull away a bit farther, but Bucky doesn't let go of his shirt. "Okay," Steve says, understanding, and walks Bucky back to his room, keeping him close. When Steve woke up, he didn't have anyone to do this for him, no one to make it easier to swallow, no one he could hold on to who he knew was going to hold back. He's more than happy to be here to do that for his best friend.

When they get back to the room, Director Fury is waiting. "Where the hell did the two of you go? You were left unsupervised for fifteen minutes and you leave!"

"He wanted to see outside, so I showed him. It's not like anyone stopped us and we literally stood right outside the front door." Steve says defensively. 

Fury sighs. "Sit him down."

Steve sits Bucky on the bed and Bucky pretends that his hand gripping Steve's shirt had just been to help keep him upright. After all, the world may have changed, but he doubts it had changed that much. "Thanks. Who're you?"

"Nick Fury, director of SHIELD. We were beginning to think you weren't going to wake up."

"I always liked proving authority wrong," Bucky says with a mischievous grin

Steve chuckles.

"And here I thought Rogers was going to be the only pain in the ass."

"I shall prove you wrong yet again."

"You said it, not me," Steve smirks.

"Oh I know I'm a pain in the ass when I want to be."

"And sometimes when you aren't trying to be." Steve smiles a bit at the familiarity of the tease.

"Well at least Cap seems happier now that you're back. We took the liberty of setting up an apartment for each of you. They're across the hall from one another. We furnished it with the basics. We figured you'd want to do your own decorating."

"We have separate apartments?" Bucky says disappointed. He'd been thinking he'd stay with Steve.

"They won't mind if we bunk together I'm sure," Steve says, looking at Fury.

"If that's what you want, I'll have you switched to a two room apartment."

Steve likes that better. Being apart wasn't something they were used to, and in all this insanity, that bit of normalcy was craved.

"Thanks," Bucky says, slightly relieved.

"We'll also help you catch up on history and culture. Rogers, are you going to take our offer of employment?"

"Not really much else I could do with my current skill set."

"We could help you find something else if you really want. Barnes, the job offer stands for you too. Not as a field agent, of course, but there are plenty of jobs you can take."

"Pencil pusher?" Bucky asks.

"If that's what you want to do."

"Good lord no."

"I accept, on the condition that you give me time to catch up on... Well... Everything," Steve says. He may not be ready to jump back in the field quite yet, but sitting around doing next to nothing for three weeks had started to annoy him.

"Not a problem."

"Good."

Fury looks at Bucky. "I'll have files made on the jobs you qualify for, and I'll have some agents start setting up your apartment. It should only take a few hours. Depending on how you feel later you can move in tonight and start lessons tomorrow. And I'll have someone come by with more clothes for Barnes."

"We can move in tonight," Bucky insists.

"I can assign someone to join you whenever you want to get stuff for your apartment and to take Barnes to get his bank information."

"Alright."

"...do I have to stay here much longer?" Bucky asks, eager to leave the hospital.

"You can leave when the doctor says."

"The sooner we stop smelling like disinfectant, the better," Steve adds in agreement.

"Yeah, I understand. I'll tell the doctor if I see him. Anything else?"

Bucky shakes his head and glances at Steve, who shakes his head in turn.

"Alright. I'll see you both later." Fury leaves the men on their own.

"How are you feeling?" Steve asks gently.

"A bit better." Steve holds Bucky's gaze and Bucky sighs. "I just feel like...like the world has crashed down around me. This is going to take a lot of getting used to."

"Yeah. But hey, at least we aren't alone." Steve offers Bucky a small smile. Bucky looks at his friend and can't help but return the smile a little sadly. Steve always could make him smile when he was down.

"Yeah...at least we aren't alone."


	7. What If They Had An Apartment?

The men sit in silence for a brief moment. Bucky draws what's left of his left arm in close.

"…You really scared me, you know," Steve says quietly.

"I was getting you back for all the times you really scared me."

"That's not fair, Buck. They were about to unplug you. They were saying it would be more merciful that way."

"I know you. You wouldn't have let them."

"You're darn right I wouldn't have, but you don't seem to get it, Buck. You looked like a corpse…"

"I'm sorry… It's not like I knew it was okay to wake up now."

"I tried to tell you to wake up, I tried so many times to wake you up."

"It's not like I could hear you Stevie. The last thing I remember is crashing the plane… You know I never would've left you alone, not if I had a choice."

"I thought you were about to. Your heartbeat was so slow… You have no idea what that was like."

Bucky thinks of all the times Steve had been sick, all the times they had slept in the same bed because the heater didn't work and he had stayed awake, listening to Steve's irregular heartbeat and weak breathing, afraid that if he fell asleep, Steve might not wake up the next morning. "…I think I have a pretty good idea…" He stands. "C'mere, Punk." He hugs Steve, and Steve hugs Bucky close, grateful to have him back. "I'm with you to the end of the line, remember?"

"To the end of the line." Steve calms down.

"Yeah." Bucky pulls away. "Don't worry about me leaving you, Stevie. I haven't yet and I don't plan on it."

"Good."

The doctor walks in. "Well at least you seem to be standing alright. You should be free to go. Just make sure you eat a lot today and start exercising regularly so you can get your strength back up. We have physical therapists here to help you if you need it."

"…But I can go?" Bucky says hopefully.

"Yes, you can go. Want me to find someone to show you where your apartments are?"

"Yes, thank you." Steve can't help thinking that home could be a real place again, now that Bucky was back.

After a few minutes, Agent Sitwell comes in. "So, you finally decided to join the rest of us in the present, huh?"

"Well I can't exactly go back to my own time," Bucky answers.

"Bucky, this is Agent Sitwell."

"It's good to meet you," Sitwell holds out a hand.

"Likewise." Bucky and Sitwell shake hands.

"Ready to go home? Fury just finished having a two bedroom apartment set up for you."

Bucky nods. "Let's go."

Sitwell takes them to a car and they leave. Bucky can't help staring at everything. It was all so strange and weird and new.

"I know, Buck."

"I mean… It's just a car! It's huge!"

"Yup."

Sitwell pulls up to an apartment complex and takes them inside and up to the third floor. "Fury said you wanted to room together?"

"Yes."

Sitwell pulls a key from his pocket and opens the door, then hands the key to Steve. "The landlady has a second one."

"Thank you," Steve says as he walks in. It was so much bigger than what they were used to. "…Phones got smaller, but everything else got bigger…"

"And this is all for just the two of us?"

"This is considered a modest apartment," Sitwell points out.

"…We have separate rooms…I can't remember the last time I had my own room," Bucky says in awe.

"It's been a long time…" Steve agrees.

"Someone will come by later with some basic groceries. Unless you want me to show you to the grocery store or some nearby restaurants."

"Um…" Steve looks to Bucky for his opinion.

"How far away is the grocery store?" Bucky asks.

"Just about a block away."

"We can find it on our own, thanks." Bucky had never liked depending on others to do something he could do just fine on his own.

"Do you need anything right now?" Sitwell asks.

"Not that I can think of," Bucky says, then looks at Steve to see if he has something to add.

"Thanks for your help," Steve adds.

"Not a problem. This is much more pleasant than my last assignment."

"Oh?" Steve asks curiously.

"Well it nearly killed me. If you get the clearance I might tell you about it someday."

Steve nods and Sitwell leaves. "Let's check out our new home."

They walk around their new apartment. It was extremely nice by their standards. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, a decent sized kitchen with modern appliances, a table and chairs nearby and a furnished living room, complete with a couch and a TV.

"This place must cost a fortune…" Bucky says.

"Yeah…This is supposed to be modest?"

"The kitchen and living room alone is about the size of our entire old apartment. Probably bigger," Bucky says in awe

"No kidding."

"I guess people just live differently now…"

"Yes…yes they do," Steve says

Bucky goes to sit on the couch and immediately jumps up. "What in the…?" He pushes down on the couch cushion with his hand, trying to discern whether or not it was going to fall in on itself.

"What is it?"

"I thought it was going to fall in…" He sits back down carefully, still uncomfortable with how much he sinks into the cushion. "This is weird, seriously, come sit on this thing." Steve does so, then stands back up. "You see what I mean?"

"I do," Steve says and looks at the couch.

"We even have a television… I can probably count on my one hand how often I've used a television." Bucky stands with some difficulty. "I don't think I trust that thing not to break yet."

"Agreed."

"At least the chairs at the table look sturdy…" Bucky says, looking at the dining table set.

"Yeah."

"…So I guess this is home now…"

"Yeah, I guess so," Steve looks at Bucky. He was what made it a home.

"…Still struggling to wrap my head around all this."

"I know the feeling."

"So what do we do now? Do we just… Just work for Peggy and Howard's spy agency and try to move on like nothing happened?" Bucky says.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to pretend nothing happened."

"Me neither."

"It's going to take a while for this to feel like it's really ours," Steve says.

"It doesn't even feel like New York anymore. It's bigger, and louder and everything looks different. And it somehow smells even worse. And the buildings have giant televisions on them, just for advertisements. What a waste." Bucky shakes his head.

"It is. Seems like they have nothing better to spend money on."

"Apparently not."

Steve shakes his head. "Want to see if there's any Baseball on the TV?"

"Sure thing Stevie, but where's the dial?"

"I'll check," Steve says and examines the TV, finding buttons on the side. "No dial, but there's buttons."

"Try some of them," Bucky says curiously. Steve nods and starts pushing buttons, turning it on. "It's so bright and colorful."

"Yeah…I'll try to find a baseball game." Steve starts changing the channel. All he finds is commercials and some show about two teenage girls.

"Why is everything commercials?"

"I dunno, but I don't see baseball," Steve says with a frown. That was a shame. He hopes baseball still exists. Even seventy years into the future, what was New York without baseball?

"Just turn it off, if there's no baseball," Bucky says, and Steve does so, returning to Bucky's side. "We spent twenty years entertaining ourselves without a TV, what makes now any different?"

"Yeah. What do you want for dinner? I have some cash we can use to buy groceries, though I swear there's more there than I've held in my hand in my entire life."

"I don't want to know how much that is, let's just go and attempt to ignore all that before the financial section of my brain tries to explode at the thought of spending so much."

"Alright Buck."

"And we can pick up my key to the apartment from the landlady on the way down."

"Good idea. What do you want me to make for dinner?"

"I don't know. Something simple?"

"How's vegetable soup sound?" Steve offers.

"You still remember your mom's recipe?"

"Obviously." Steve had made it enough times that he'd better know that recipe.

"Then soup sounds perfect. Let's go."


	8. What If Grocery Stores Were Much Too Big?

Steve and Bucky head downstairs and find Mrs. Turner, their landlady, first.

"Afternoon, Ma'am," Steve says, polite as always.

"You two must be the new tenants," She says cheerily. "You just moved into the two bedroom on the third floor, yes?"

"Yes Ma'am," Steve returns the smile.

"I'll get your spare key." She grabs the key, and hands it to Steve, who in turn passes it to Bucky. "Now where are you nice boys headed?"

"The grocery store. We were told it wasn't too far from here."

"When you leave the building turn left, walk to the end of the block, make another left, and it'll be on your right, you can't miss it!" The older woman smiles. "Make sure you come and find me if you need anything."

"We will. Have a nice day," Steve offers a friendly wave and he and Bucky leave, following Mrs. Turner's directions.

They stay close together, neither wanting to risk losing the other in the crowd of people that fill the busy city. Bucky, still working on compensating for his missing arm, has to focus to keeping his balance without grabbing onto Steve's sleeve.

Steve wishes he could keep his arm around Bucky to help him steady himself. But then, if anyone saw it would put them at risk. If anyone thought they were queer, it could get them arrested, and Steve doesn't think either of them can handle that risk right now.

Bucky's thought process is running along a similarly cautious line. He can't use Steve to steady himself here, nor can he use contact with his best friend for comfort in this crazy mixed up mess. Not while they were in public.

The store is massive compared to what the pain of them are used to. There's an entire very large aisle devoted entirely to pet food, and several aisles of frozen foods. Once they realize how much is different about this grocery store compared to the ones from their time, they decide to make their shopping trip a quick one, grabbing only what they need for the soup and return to their apartment. Then Steve looks at the prices.

"They weren't kidding when they said prices had gone up…" Steve puts the veggies in the basket somewhat hesitantly and having to remind himself that he could afford it.

Bucky winces at the price. "Let's just finish this quickly."

Steve nods and the pair finish shopping, heading over to checkout, where there are rows of lines, each leading to their own grocer. Steve stares briefly, before shaking his head. He had to act like nothing surprised him. No one could know he wasn't from this time period. He goes to the end of a line and waits, using the people in front of him to learn how things were done here. The pair of them drew enough attention as it was.

The bored teenager working checkout tells them their price once the items are scanned, and Steve pays in cash. They aren't given the paper bags Steve was used to, instead all of the groceries get put into a flimsy plastic bag with handles and held out to them by the employee bagging their groceries. The pair of them hurry back home with their groceries.

"...Well that was an experience..." Steve says, setting the groceries up so he can start on dinner.

"No kidding. I never used to trip over my own feet. And what was that thing on the front of the cash register?" Buck says, sitting at the table.

"No idea, but I'm sure SHIELD will have someone teach us."

"Yeah. New York sure has changed," Bucky says, looking around the room.

"And we have seventy years of culture and history to catch up on."

"Yeah. Need any help with dinner, Stevie?"

"Figure out where the pots and pans are?"

"Sure thing." Bucky stands and starts looking around in the cabinets, quickly finding the pots and pans.

"Thanks, mind getting out the big one?"

"If I must," Bucky says sarcastically, before realizing just how difficult that was going to be with just one arm. He doesn't say anything. He starts trying to pull things out so that he can get to the pot that is, of course, at the bottom of the stack. After a moment of struggle, Steve notices and goes over to help. "No, Steve, I can do it."

"I know you can. But there's no sense in struggling with it when I can help." Steve gently moves a frustrated Bucky out of the way and does it for him. "Just because you can, doesn't mean you have to, okay?"

"Fine, but you owe me a drink for this. Plus, we still need to celebrate not dying."

Steve chuckles. "Sure thing Buck. Tomorrow night we'll go out to a bar, okay?"

Bucky nods, somewhat appeased, and sits back in his seat while Steve finishes the soup.

"Now we just let it cook for a while," Steve says, sitting next to Bucky. "Crazy day, huh?"

"I'm not completely sure I'm not dreaming."

"Bucky, I've been awake for three weeks. I wish you were dreaming. But you aren't. I'm sorry."

"What have I told you about apologizing? Stop it. It's not your fault we're here and it's not your place to feel sorry 'bout it. It doesn't do anyone any good." Bucky tries to cross his arms, but having one arm it looks and feels awkward, so he tries to find something to do with his hand and ends up just fiddling with the edge of his shirt. "We'll make the most of what happened. We're alive, both of us. And neither of us is doing this alone. So don't be sorry, not for yourself, and definitely not for me. Be grateful."

"Alright Buck."

They talk about their apartment, and how nice it is compared to their old one while they wait for the soup to finish cooking. Once the soup is done and they've started eating, they talk about Peggy and Howard and the Commandos as if all of them were still out there, before remembering that Peggy was that only one that was still around and falling silent. Once they finish eating, Steve starts telling Bucky about all of the things he'd learned about what had happened in the last 70 years, about the Vietnam War and the various presidents that had been elected. Bucky watches Steve talk about all of the things that had happened and props his head up with his hand, interested, but at the same time exhausted.

"We've probably got some classes and things tomorrow to help us get caught up. Let's get some sleep, okay?" Steve suggests, noticing Bucky's tired expression.

"M'kay." Both men stand up and head to their separate rooms.

Bucky strips down to his boxers and sits on the bed. _Great,_ he thinks. _More furniture that wants to eat me_. He grabs a too-soft pillow and throws it on the carpeted floor beside the bed, then pulls the blanket of the bed and does the same with it. He lays down on the floor. _Much better_.

The room feels empty. When they were on missions, which was most of the time, the Howling Commandos would usually share tents with one another for warmth, and the way it usually split up, he'd share with Steve. After all, they'd done the same together in the past, when the heater didn't work and they couldn't afford to fix it. Now, trying to sleep alone felt strange. He was about to get up and see if Steve would mind if they slept together for now, until he got used to everything, when he hears the door open.

"Bed's too soft for you too huh?" Steve says, wearing boxers and an undershirt and holding a pillow in one hand with a blanket in the other.

"Yeah." Bucky shifts over to one side in response and Steve joins him on the floor.

"Good night, Buck."

"Night Stevie."

They shift closer together as they sleep, each gravitating toward the nearest source of warmth. Or at least, that's the excuse they give themselves when they wake up cuddling one another and sharing a pillow.


	9. What If There Were Prosthetics?

Steve wakes up with Bucky pressed close to his chest, snoring softly. He smiles, hearing Bucky's heartbeat, so much stronger and steadier now. Steve tries to pull away from Bucky, but his attempt is halted by Bucky's arm draped across his waist. He doesn't want to wake Bucky up. And beyond that, Steve feels very comfortable, wrapped up in a blanket with Bucky. He could almost go back to sleep. He closes his eyes, that way, if nothing else, he can pretend he's asleep until Bucky wakes up.

Steve feels Bucky's face press deeper into his chest. Bucky's position adjusts around him slightly and he starts to wake up, cuddling Steve.

"Umm…Buck?"

Bucky pulls away, pretending nothing had happened. "Morning." He gets up. "What's for breakfast?"

Steve regrets the loss of the warmth, but quickly brushes it aside. He gets up as well. "There's leftover soup in the fridge, and then I guess we should call and see what we're supposed to do today. They did say they'd help us get settled into the new time period."

"Alright. Soup first."

The pair eat their breakfast and get ready for the day. Before long they're back at SHIELD headquarters taking classes about the new time period and the seventy years that had passed between the crash and now. They started with the things that Steve and Bucky would need to know for their everyday lives within the current century, such as the city's layout, how to use their phones, and advancements in technology. After lunch, they're taken shopping for more food and clothes by Agent Sitwell so that things like credit cards can be shown and explained and they can be shown how normal twenty-something men dress in this time period. When that's done, they return to SHIELD for a review of basic modern economics and health care. Then they're told that they can do as they please for the rest of the day.

"Don't forget, you promised me a drink," Bucky reminds Steve as they walk through the SHIELD hallway.

"I'm sure someone around here knows a good bar nearby..." Steve looks around, spotting a pair of young scientists. "Excuse me, sorry to interrupt, but you wouldn't happen to know of any good bars nearby, would you?" He asks.

The scientists stare Steve, looking confused and slightly startled.

Bucky shakes his head slightly and steps forward, taking control of the situation. No one ever said Steve was a smooth talker. "My friend and I were hoping for a night out on the town, but we're a little new to the area. Think you could give us a hand?"

"Oh! Yes, of course," The British scientist says, Bucky's natural charm immediately taking effect. "Well, there's Ruby's-"

"Yes, that's about two blocks towards 6th street and a bit to the left," Her Scottish partner adds.

"And then there's Paddy's-"

"Right, that's a block toward 4th, then another block toward Main."

"It'll be on your right," Her partner adds with a nod.

"I would say you must be new field agents but…" She says, her eyes falling on Bucky's missing arm.

"I was a field agent before… Now, once we adapt to the new surroundings a bit… they'll find a new place for me," Bucky explains.

"Oh. Are you planning on getting a prosthetic? Oh, Um, Sorry, I'm Fitz, this is-" Fitz is interrupted by his British counterpart.

"Simmons, hello, it's a pleasure," She says, offering her hand.

Steve shakes it. "Rogers."

"Barnes, nice to meet you both. What were you saying about a prosthetic?" Bucky says curiously.

"Right! Well, I'm almost certain we could do it-" Fitz says.

"Oh, but not quite yet, we need to finish the-" Simmons interrupts.

"Night-night gun right-"

"We're not calling it that, but we still need to finish it first," Simmons says with a frown at Fitz.

"We can have that done in a few days, probably, and we can set something up?"

"That sounds great-" Bucky starts to say.

"FitzSimmons! Quit socializing and get back to work!" Another scientist hollers from down the hall.

"It was nice meeting you both-"

"We'll see you soon-"

"FitzSimmons!"

"Coming Sir!" the pair says in unison before running off to get back to work, leaving Steve and Bucky mostly in shock over the curious characters they'd just met.

"They were… interesting," Steve says.

"They're making me a new arm." Bucky smiles.

"That's what they said. Something else to celebrate tonight. Shall we?" Steve smiles back.

"Let's go." They return to their apartment.

* * *

 

After deciding on Ruby's, they head to the bar. The lights are dim, and the music is loud and modern. They order some food, and talk about their classes. The bar begins to fill up as it gets later.

Steve and Bucky take note of the people coming in and the way they act. People look different now, women in particular. The way they dress, the way they wear their hair, the way they act, the way people dance, it's all different now.

"Not a bad place. How 'bout we just get whatever beer's on tap?" Bucky says, distracting Steve from the changes surrounding him.

"Sure thing, Buck." Steve smiles at his friend.

For over an hour they do little more than reminisce, talking about the Howling Commandos, Peggy Carter, and Howard Stark.


	10. What If They Celebrated?

Bucky spots two women sitting at the bar. One of them, with bright red hair in perfect waves, is looking him up and down with a smile on her face. The other, with short dark hair in a modern cut, just glances shyly over at the table, then returns her gaze to the red head.

"Hey Stevie, I think those dames are eying us. What'd'ya say we buy them a couple drinks?" He throws a wink and a charming smile at a red head sitting at the bar. She smiles back, says a couple of words to the woman sitting beside her. Both women stand and start walking over to Steve and Bucky's table.

"Even seventy years in the future, you're still turning heads," Steve says quietly, smiling at Bucky.

The redhead walks confidently up to the table. "Hey handsome. Mind if we join the party? Next round's on us."

"What kind of gentlemen would we be if we made you buy your own drinks? You're more than welcome to join us so long as you let us pay." Bucky gestures to the empty chairs and smiles brightly.

The red head laughs. "Who could refuse a deal like that? Alright, next round's on you." The women sit. "I'm Emily. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"James Buchanan Barnes, and believe me, the pleasure is all mine," He smiles and takes a drink.

"Steve Rogers," he says with a gentle smile.

"I'm Colette. We haven't seen you around here before. Where're you from?"

"We grew up in Brooklyn, and we just got back from serving in the Army," Steve explains. Technically, it was the truth.

"Looks like we've got ourselves a couple of war heroes, Colette. Now you _have_ to let us buy you a round of drinks," Emily says leaning in toward Bucky seductively.

Bucky chuckles softly and leans in equally far. "Is that so?"

"Most definitely." Emily smirks.

"My mom was in the Air Force when she was younger," Colette tells Steve while Bucky and Emily flirt back and forth.

"Really?" Steve responds. Right, they weren't both just interested in Bucky, he needed to legitimately contribute.

"Yeah. She teaches second grade now."

"She's a very brave woman," Steve smiles brightly.

"Yeah. She's great." Colette returns the smile.

"Hey, Colette, why don't we run and get that next round of drinks? We'll be right back," Emily says, taking Colette's hand to tug her away to the bar.

"She likes you," Bucky teases.

"No, she-"

"Yes she does, Stevie," Bucky interrupts.

"What do I do? You know me, I don't exactly have a lot of expertise in this kind of thing."

"Ask her about herself, be calm, you've got this," Bucky offers Steve a confident smile.

Steve smiles back uncertainly. The girls return, both with a drink in each hand.

"Drink up." Emily sits closer to Bucky.

"Here you go, Steve," Colette says, handing Steve a fresh drink and sitting next to him.

"Thank you," Steve smiles. "So, what do you do? For work, I mean."

"Oh, I'm a nurse in the ER."

"Really? My mother was a nurse," Steve says with a genuine smile. "It takes a strong person to be able to handle a job like that."

Colette blushes lightly. "Well, at least it's never boring. What did you do before you became a soldier?"

"I was an artist. People would pay me to draw them or they'd buy landscapes I'd already finished. I'd paint when we could afford the supplies, but I used pencils or pens the most. I wasn't the best, but I did what I could, and I enjoyed it." Steve smiles shyly, remembering.

"Steve's being modest. Nobody draws like he does. Used to be you couldn't find him without a sketchbook in hand. Show them, Steve," Bucky encourages, pulling back from his conversation with Emily just a bit.

"I don't have anything to draw on," Steve says, blushing a bit.

Bucky puts a napkin in front of Steve.

"I still have nothing to draw with."

"That's okay, he doesn't have to-" Colette insists, worrying that it would make Steve uncomfortable.

"One sec," Emily says and digs in her purse. She pulls out a pen and hands it to Steve.

"Okay then. Will you smile for me?" Steve asks as he flattens the napkin, eliminating as many ridges and bumps as he can.

Colette the moves to the side, assuming Steve meant Emily.

"Colette?" Steve says confused.

"Wait, me?" Colette says surprised.

"Is there someone else you want me to draw instead?"

"No, it's okay." Colette blushes a bit and smiles like Steve asked.

Steve smiles back, then starts drawing on the napkin. It's just a quick sketch, but it easily shows talent and it's obviously Colette.

"Wow...can I keep this?" Colette says.

"Sure, if you like." Steve passes it over to her.

"Thank you."

"Any time," Steve smiles.

Emily and Bucky have already once again become engrossed in each other, flirting shamelessly, as if it's a game they're trying to win.

"I'll get the next round of drinks," Steve offers, standing up.

"I'll join you," Colette says, though neither Bucky nor Emily seem to notice.

"They're quite the pair. I can't remember the last time a woman was able to match Bucky like that," Steve says as he and Colette make their way to the bar.

"Yeah. Emily seems pretty happy with how it's going too," Colette says smiling.

They order four drinks and head back to the table, where Emily and Bucky have started kissing. Steve and Colette put the drinks down.

"I think we should just leave them be, I doubt they'll be coming up for air any time soon," Steve says, looking anywhere else but at Bucky.

"Yeah... I know a little ice cream place nearby… You know, if you want we can leave them here and come back for them later?" Colette says, looking up at Steve.

"I wonder how long it would take them to notice we were gone," Steve says, amused. "Let's go."

As Steve and Colette leave, Emily and Bucky separate. "Told you it would work," Emily says with a smirk.

"You're just full of good ideas. Now where were we?" Bucky smirks back.

Steve and Colette walk to the ice cream shop. They talk for a while about pointless little things that neither of them cared about or would bother to remember later.

* * *

 

"It's getting late. We should probably get our friends home before they get too drunk," Steve suggests.

"Yeah. Let's go." Colette smiles and stands.

Steve joins her and the pair walk to the door.

They walk back to the bar in comfortable silence. When they get inside, they don't see Bucky and Emily at their previous table, and the dance floor is even fuller than before.

Steve spots Bucky and Emily tucked away in the far corner of the dance floor and sighs. He walks over, trying not to get in the way, with Colette close behind him.

Emily is pressed against the wall with her arms around Bucky. Bucky's one arm is bracing him against the wall as the pair pass heated kisses back and forth.

"He never changes," Steve says to himself. He taps Bucky on the shoulder and Bucky breaks the kiss. "Time to go home."

"Does he have to? I could always bring him home with me," Emily smiles.

"I'm afraid so. Maybe some other time," Steve responds.

"Ten more minutes, Stevie?" Bucky asks.

"You're just going to go back to making out, aren't you?" Colette says more than asks.

"I guess ten minutes wouldn't hurt. But no complaining when it's time to go home," Steve insists. In the past he would've just left Bucky to his own devices, knowing he'd come home at some point. But this was a new place in a new time, and while he knows Bucky would hate being treated like a cripple because of his missing arm, he can't help that Bucky really isn't as capable anymore.

"Thanks Stevie." Bucky winks at him and turns back to Emily. "Now where were we?"

Emily wraps her arms back around Bucky and goes back to kissing him.

Steve rolls his eyes and shakes his head with a slight smile. "Colette, want to grab another drink while we wait?"

"Just water this time," she responds with a lightly.

"Sounds good."

The pair walk back to the bar and order two waters.

"So, you think they'll make a good couple?" Steve asks.

"I think that they'll just be flings for each other. I don't see it lasting too long," Colette shrugs. "That's what Emily usually does."

"Bucky too. Before we went to war there was a different girl on his arm every friday night. He'd usually ask her if she had a friend to keep me company. You might not believe this, but I used to be pretty small," Steve says with a smile.

"You? Small?" Colette laughs.

"I was small, sick Steve Rogers, always picking fights with boys twice his size down in the slums of Brooklyn. Bucky always tried to have my back. Sometimes we both got beat up because I did something stupid. Sometimes I'd end up late to meet him for whatever we had planned, whether it was a double date with a couple of girls he'd picked up or a baseball game or whatever, and he'd search the back alleys until he found me, usually beat up and unconscious. Usually Bucky would come out on top."

"Why did you get into fights so much?" Colette asks confused.

"I don't like bullies. And there were a lot of them where we grew up," Steve shrugs. "Anyway, Bucky would often end up getting both girls."

"He'd pick up one for each of you and end up getting both? That's rude."

"No, no, you misunderstand. It wasn't what he was trying to do. You see, he was tall, strong, handsome, charming, intelligent… and I was small, sickly, awkward, with a stubborn streak and clothes that didn't fit right. Not his fault they liked him better." Steve smiles.

"Guess you just weren't meeting the right kinds of girls," Colette says, looking up at Steve.

"You think so?"

Colette nods. "I don't care about that stuff. I just think you're a nice guy."

"I'm glad you think so." He smiles at her.

"Hey, Steve?"

"Yeah?" Steve looks at Colette.

"I've had a fun time tonight," she says, leaning in closer to Steve.

"Me too. I'm glad we got the chance to talk."

"Yeah," she smiles and, after a moment of hesitation, kisses Steve.

Steve, after a brief moment of shock, reciprocates.

When they break apart, they look at each other.

"That was…" Steve starts.

"Awkward?" Colette offers.

"Yeah. Sorry," Steve rubs the back of his head. There was none of what he had with Peggy in it. Nothing that left him wanting to do it again, wanting to come home to her. Maybe if they hadn't met now, if they'd met before Peggy, or after he'd had time to get over losing her, it could've worked, but that isn't how things had happened. He doesn't feel ready. Not so soon after Peggy.

"Don't be. Friends?" Colette offers.

"Friends." Steve smiles, glad this could end on a positive note. "Shall we go collect the other two?"

"Sure," She says, standing up.

They return to Bucky and Emily, who don't seem to have moved. Steve taps on Bucky's shoulder. "Come on, Buck. Time to go home."

Bucky pulls away.

"Want to exchange numbers? Maybe we can meet up some time and continue this elsewhere..." Emily smiles flirtatiously.

"Sounds like a date, doll." Bucky unlocks his phone and hands it to her.

Emily takes it and taps the screen with her thumb a few times before passing it back. "Text me." She smiles and walks away.

"You can, um, get my number from her later if you want it. Emily, wait up!" Colette chases after her friend.

"Quite the couple of dames, huh, Stevie?" Bucky says with a smile.

"Your mouth is red with lipstick, Buck. Let's head home." Steve offers Bucky a small smile and starts walking away.

Bucky isn't far behind. "So how'd it go?"

"We left the bar, got some ice cream, and talked for a while. Then we came back and I told you ten more minutes and we talked some more. Then she kissed me."

"She _kissed_ you? How was it? What did you do?" Bucky asks, smiling.

"It was okay, I guess. We agreed to just be friends after," Steve shrugs.

"Oh… I'm sorry buddy…" Bucky puts a hand on Steve's shoulder.

"Don't be, Buck. I didn't come here to pick up a girl. Besides, I still need time to move on, you know? I'm not in any hurry." Steve smiles at Bucky. "So don't worry about it."

"Alright Stevie. If you're sure." Bucky doesn't look convinced but he drops the subject.


	11. What If The Tesseract Was Stolen?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the next few chapters the focus will be on the events that occurred during the Avengers movies, but now with Bucky in them. As a result there may be some repetition, and Bucky's view of the events will be the primary focus

It's been just over a month since Steve and Bucky first settled in to their new apartment. During that month, Steve and Bucky have settled into a routine. Workouts in the morning, then classes to help them get on level with the modern day men, and then they'd work with SHIELD, getting themselves ready for mission clearance. Bucky has received his prosthetic arm, plastic and removable, it was never going to be equal to his real one, but it served it’s purpose and he was hoping to be certified as a sniper for SHIELD. Luckily he was a left handed shooter.

Both men have had to suffer sleepless nights and bouts with nightmares as a result of their time at war and freezing in the Atlantic. Whenever this happened, they'd head to an old, run down boxing ring they'd found and take everything out on a punching bag. Sometimes they'd go alone, sometimes they'd go together. It depended entirely on if they accidentally woke each other up, and as some habits died hard, they both woke at the slightest sound.

Neither of them said a word. They didn't need to. They both already knew. So when Steve woke up with a shout in his throat and his gun in his hand, and Bucky rushed in to check on him, as they always did, they were silent. They got dressed and grabbed their equipment, and left together.

Steve hammers on the bag with taped fists, flashes of memory from the crash hitting back at him. So Steve hits harder, fist ramming into the punching bag, and the chain breaks. The bag slams into the wall. Bucky drags a new bag over and Steve hangs it up.

“Trouble sleeping, Gentlemen?” Fury announces his presence, walking in.

“We slept for seventy years,” Steve says, punching the bag.

“We've had our fill of sleep, thanks,” Bucky leaves his place leaning against a nearby to stand with Steve.

“Then you should be out celebrating,” Fury suggests.

“We did,” Bucky assures. “But thanks for the concern.”

“You here with a mission, Sir?” Steve asks, removing the tape from his hands.

“I am,” Fury says, not elaborating.

“What is it?” Bucky asks.

“Above your level of clearance,” Fury tells Bucky.

“We’re a package deal. I'll just tell him after you leave anyway,” Steve says, unimpressed.

Bucky smirks.

“Fine,” Fury says with a roll of his eye and hands Steve a set of files, including one on the Tesseract.

Bucky reads over Steve's shoulder.

“Hydra’s secret weapon,” Steve says flatly.

“Again. For fucks sake,” Bucky judges in annoyance.

“Howard Stark fished it out of the ocean when he was looking for the two of you. He thought the way we think, that the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs,” Fury explains.

“Of course he pulled it out of the ocean when he found it. For a genius he was an idiot,” Bucky crosses his arms.

“Who took it from you?” Steve asks.

“He's called Loki. He's not from around here. There's a lot you'll have to be brought up to speed on if you're in,” Fury informs the pair.

“If Steve's coming I'm coming,” Bucky insists.

“He's right. I'm not going without Bucky,” Steve agrees.

“Then he's only on as a consultant. He won't be doing any fighting. And if he gets hurt it's on you,” Fury conditions.

“Fine,” Steve shrugs, allowing the stipulation to be added.

“The world has gotten even stranger than the two of you know. I hope you're ready for that,” Fury warns.

“At this point I don't think anything could surprise me,” Steve huffs, packing up.

“Ten bucks says you're wrong. There's a debriefing package waiting for you back at your apartment. Anything we ought to know about the Tesseract now?” Fury asks as Steve and Bucky start walking away.

“Yeah. You shoulda left it in the damn ocean,” Bucky hollers back.

Steve and Bucky walk back to the apartment.

“Well, that was an unexpected turn of events,” Steve sighs, gym bag slung over his shoulder.

“No kiddin, Stevie. We're going to do it though, right?”

“It's time to finish what Hydra started.” Steve looks at Bucky with a small smile.

“Somehow I knew you were going to say that,” Bucky smiles back.

Steve huffs in amusement. “I hope you're almost mission ready. Can that new arm of yours hold a rifle?”

Bucky’s grin widens. “And all that stuff about having me as just a consultant?”

“There are… armed consultants…”

“Yeah, sure there are, I'm just not one of them. Hey, I'll follow you over them any day, pal.” Bucky claps Steve on the shoulder.

* * *

 

Steve and Bucky are going over information on the people they'd be working with for this mission on a tablet during the quinjet ride to base. On the screen Hulk is on a furious rampage.

“We're about forty minutes out from the base, Sir,” the pilot tells Agent Coulson.

Phil stands from his seat and walks over to Steve and Bucky. From the time he saw them before they got on the quinjet to now he hasn't been able to resist a few looks at the Captain, meanwhile trying not to look like he was staring.

Bucky caught him looking on more than one occasion. Another admirer. Some things would never change. Though it being another man was rather new. In one of their classes they'd been informed that homosexuality was no longer illegal. Bucky was actually secretly happy about that. He liked men and women both. Had for as long as he could remember, though it was the one thing he'd never told Steve.

“So, this Dr. Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?” Steve asks, handing the tablet to Bucky.

“A lot of people were. You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine’s original formula,” Phil explains.

“Didn't really work out for him, did it?” Bucky points out as the Hulk on the screen destroys a jeep.

“Not so much. When he's not that thing though, the guy's like a Stephen Hawking,” Phil smiles.

Steve looks confused.

“A what?” Bucky asks.

“He's like a really smart person.” Phil says awkwardly and fidgets briefly. “I gotta say, it's a real honor to meet you both, officially,” He wears a bright, eager smile.

Steve smiles back. He'd gotten a lot of this since waking up from the ice.

Bucky gives Phil a look of pity.

“I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping…” Phil quickly realizes the words that just came out of his mouth and silently regrets it.

Steve looks down.

Bucky tries not to laugh. This agent was really putting his foot in his mouth over something that wasn't going to happen anyway. He turns the tablet off and puts it away. This was much more interesting.

“I mean… I was present while you were unconscious from the ice. You know, it's really… it's just… it's such a huge honor to have you on board. Both of you. Really,” Phil gushes, staring at Steve.

“We're happy to be here, aren't we Stevie?” Bucky smiles, trying to throw the poor floundering Agent a bone.

“Yeah. You think we're the men for the job?” Steve asks, standing and looking at Phil.

“Oh, yes, you are. Absolutely. Uh…” Phil reminds himself to act normally. “We've made some modifications to the uniform. I had some design input.”

“The uniform?” Steve makes a face.

“Please tell me you kept the Stars and Stripes,” Bucky says, certain that the slightly flustered agent had, and eager to tease his best friend over the uniform again.

“Of course we did,” Phil shoots Bucky a smile.

“Aren't the Stars and Stripes a little… old fashioned?” Steve points out, with a sharp look Bucky’s way.

“With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, we just might need a little old fashioned…” Phil looks away.

Steve takes in the sentiment and nods, then looks at Bucky, who smirks and raises an eyebrow. Steve rolls his eyes and shakes his head good naturedly. Some things would never change. Bucky’s teasing was one of them. He sits back down beside his friend.

* * *

 

“Agent Romanov, Captain Rogers, Sergeant Barnes,” Phil introduces the trio to one another.

“Ma’am,” Steve offers politely.

“Hi,” Natasha returns the greeting.

“Hello,” Bucky flirts with a smile and offers his hand.

Natasha looks at Bucky and raises an eyebrow, shakes his hand briefly, then turns to Phil. “They need you on the bridge. They’re starting the phase trace,” Nat informs Phil.

“See you there.” Phil walks away.

“There was quite the buzz around here, finding the two of you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his captain America trading cards yet?” Natasha smiles.

“Trading cards?” Steve looks confused.

“Tell me you're not joking…” Bucky's smile widens. It was almost too good to be true.

“They're vintage. He's very proud.” Natasha smirks.

“That's priceless.” Bucky beams.

Bruce Banner walks past nervously.

“Dr. Banner,” Steve walks up to Bruce, holding out a polite hand. Bucky isn’t far behind

“Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you’d be coming,” Bruce shakes first Steve’s hand, then Bucky’s.

“We heard you can find the cube,” Bucky says hopefully.

“Is that the only thing you heard?” Bruce wrings his hands nervously.

“It’s the only part we care about,” Steve smiles kindly.

“You won’t face any judgment about that from us,” Bucky smiles brightly.

“Must be strange for the two of you, out here, all of this…” Bruce looks around at the modern planes.

“Generals barking orders? Soldiers running in formation to steady cadence?” Bucky raises his eyebrow.

“He’s right. That part is still pretty familiar,” Steve looks around.

“Gentlemen, you may want to step inside in a minute. It’s gonna get a little hard to breath.” Natasha smirks as the helicarrier whirs.

“Is it a submarine?” Steve says slightly confused. Bucky meanwhile just looks excited.

“Really. They wanted me in a submerged pressurized metal container?” They walk towards the edge and the three of them look over.

Massive fans start rising up from the ocean as crewmen tie down the jets. The helicarrier starts to lift into the air.

Steve and Bucky stare in awe. This was far beyond anything they’d known was possible even with their extensive classes in modernization and recent, post WWII history.

Bruce smiles. “Oh no. This is much worse.”

“Come on guys. Time to go in.” Natasha leads them all inside.

Steve and Bucky watch the crew bring the helicarrier up to level.

“Gentlemen.” Fury greets the trio.

Steve passes Fury and hands him ten bucks.

Bucky chuckles. “You never did know when not to take a bet.”

“Shut up, Buck.” Steve smiles and pushes his shoulder. The pair watch out the window.

“Doctor, thank you for coming,” Fury holds a hand out to Bruce.

Bruce takes it reluctantly. “Thanks asking nicely. So, um, how long am I staying?”

“Once we get our hands on the tesseract, you’re in the wind.”

“Where are you with that?” Bruce starts to walk past Fury and towards Coulson.

Fury points at Coulson, giving him the go-ahead to answer.

“We’re sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops. If it’s connected to a satellite, it’s eyes and ears for us,” Phil responds.

“I knew these things were too good to be true,” Bucky shakes his head, looking at his phone.

“Even so, it’s still not going to find them in time,” Natasha points out from over the shoulder of a crewman at a computer.

“You need to narrow your field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?” Bruce starts taking his jacket off.

“How many are there?” Fury crosses his arms.

“Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I’ll rough out a tracking algorithm. Basic cluster recognition. At least we can rule out a few places. You got somewhere for me to work?” Bruce quietly folds his jacket over his arm and starts rolling up his sleeves.

“Agent Romanov, would you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory, please?” Fury walks past Bruce.

Natasha walks over. “You’re gonna love it, Doc. We’ve got all the fun toys.”

Bucky walks over to one of the agents at a computer and starts asking him questions, which the agent happily answers. Since waking up Bucky had been bigger into the computers and the technical side of things than Steve had, so Steve watches silently.

Finally spying the opportunity of having some semblance of getting his childhood hero alone, Coulson walks up and stands beside Steve for a moment.

Steve notices, but says nothing.

“So… I was wondering if you would sign my trading cards…” Phil tries to sound nonchalant.

“Alright.”

“I mean, if it’s not too much trouble.”

“No no, it’s fine,” Steve assures. He couldn’t very well disappoint one of his biggest fans over something that would only take him a minute to do.

“It’s a vintage set. Took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint, slight foxing around the edges, but-”

Agent Sitwell calls over to Coulson. “Sir, we’ve got a hit. Sixty-seven percent match.” His computer beeps. “Wait, crossmatch, seventy-nine percent.”

“Location?” Phil has refocused on his job.

"Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Königstrasse. He's not exactly hiding.”

“Captain, you’re up,” Fury orders. “And Barnes? You can see him off, but stay on the ship.”

Bucky rolls his eyes.

Steve nods and leaves, Bucky trailing close behind.

“You sure you’re ready to go back in the field?” Bucky asks once they’re alone.

“A little late to be asking that, buddy, but for the record… yes, I’m ready.”

Bucky nods. “Be careful out there, okay?”

“Aren’t I always?” Steve smiles.

“Is that a trick question? No. You’re never careful.”

“But I always come out on top, don’t I?” Steve smiles.

“No. You almost never come out on top in any situation where I am not somehow involved.” Bucky raises an eyebrow at Steve, crossing his flesh arm with it’s slower, plastic, prosthetic counterpart.

“I’ll be fine, Buck. I’ll be careful. Promise.”

“Good. Go kick some ass.”

“That was the plan.” Steve smiles and leaves.

Bucky watches him go. He sighs. There was absolutely no way Steve would be careful, and now that he wasn’t allowed in the field, he wouldn’t be able to watch his Captain’s back, he couldn’t help but feel worried. After a deep breath returns to the control room alone.

Bucky walks over to Agent Sitwell. “Any way we can watch the fight from here?”

“If all goes well, them all of it should be within sight of the quinjet he’s going down in, so yes,” Agent Sitwell looks to Coulson for permission.

Coulson nods.

Sitwell types a few things into his computer. “When the fight starts we’ll be able to watch it.”

“Thanks.” Bucky stands and waits. Before too long he sees Loki onscreen.

“Look to your elder people. Let him be an example.” Loki fires a beam at an old man and Steve jumps down in front of it, shield up. The beam ricochets back at Loki and he falls to the ground.

“You know last time I was in Germany, and I saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.” Steve stands tall and proud.

“Yeah no kidding…” Bucky says quietly to himself.

“The Soldier.” Loki stands back up. “The man out of time.”

“I’m not the one who’s out of time.” Steve smirks.

Bucky finds himself wishing Steve would spend less time on his comebacks and one liners and just hurry up and gain real control of the situation.

“Loki, drop the weapon and stand down.” Natasha announces.

Loki shoots another beam at the quinjet, forcing it to veer off course to avoid being hit. Bucky loses sight of the fight because of this and his fingers tap nervously on his leg. Before long the quinjet is back on course. Bucky watches the fight with rapt attention. He can’t hear all of what’s going on on the ground over the scuffle.

“The guy’s all over the place,” Natasha says into her microphone.

Music Bucky doesn’t recognize starts to play. “...What?”

“Agent Romanov. You miss me?” Tony comes over the com system.

“Who’s that?” Bucky is given his response when a red and gold suit of armor flies in and fires on Loki. “That’s not…”

“Make your move, Reindeer Games.” Tony has various weapons sticking out of his suit and all of them aimed at Loki.

Loki’s gold helmet and armor vanish and he puts his hands up in surrender.

“Good answer.” The weapons disappear back into the suit.

“Mr Stark.” Steve looks at Tony.

“Captain.”

Natasha lands the quinjet.

“Get up,” Steve orders Loki.

Loki obliges, and is led onto the quinjet silently.

Sitwell cuts the video feed. It wouldn’t show anything useful to Bucky at this point.

“Thanks.” Bucky pats Sitwell’s shoulder and walks away. Steve would be back on the helicarrier in probably no more than half an hour. He feels like he can breathe a little easier now. He already knew to expect Steve’s inevitable ‘I told you so’, but he couldn’t really bring himself to mind. He walks to where the quinjet would return to the flying ship and he waits.

* * *

 

An hour passes and still Bucky is alone in the bay, now starting to worry again. They should have been back by now. Something must have happened.


	12. SHIELD Keeps Secrets?

Bucky makes his way back to the control center. “Fury, what's taking them so long?”

“The helicarrier got boarded by an ancient overpowered alien hippie called Thor, who kidnapped Loki. Now he's fighting with Cap and Stark over what happens next. But they seem to be almost done.”

“Do we have visual?” It would certainly make Bucky feel better if they did, that way he could see what was going on.

“Not right now. They keep going out of sight of the quinjet,” Fury is pressing buttons on his screen.

“Okay. Let me know when they start heading back again?”

“You'll be informed.”

“Thanks.” Bucky sits by the wall and pulls up a file on Thor on his tablet.

After a few minutes, Sitwell walks over to Bucky. “We just got word from Agent Romanov that they're loading back up and heading back to the Helicarrier.”

“Is everyone okay?”

“Yes sir. Apparently even a magic hammer wielded by a god is no match for the Captain’s shield,” Sitwell smiles.

“Good to know. How far out are they?”

“About fifteen minutes.”

Bucky stands up. “Thanks. Well, I'm gonna go meet them.” Bucky heads down to the hanger to do just that.

Before long he's joined by several heavily armed SHIELD agents there to collect Loki when the quinjet lands. Seven minutes after that, Agent Romanov lands and Loki is taken away the holding facility.

Steve steps out of the quinjet, slightly dustier than when he left from the fight with Thor, but otherwise looking no worse for wear. Bucky smiles at him, making sure to stand in his line of sight but out of the way of the SHIELD agents as they go about their business. Bucky watches as Thor, very clearly matching the photo from his file, steps from the quinjet.

“Where are they taking my brother?”

Romanov steps down behind them, scepter in hand. “He's going to a holding cell. So long as he behaves he'll be fine.” She starts walking towards the door.

“Behave is one thing I've never known Loki to do,” Thor says as he follows Natasha.

Tony steps off the jet and flies over to the edge of the room. “Okay but can I have a shot at that spear thing?”

“I'm going to drop this off somewhere safe and send Banner your way.” She leans the scepter away from Tony.

“Buzzkill…” Tony grumbles as he lands in an unoccupied corner of the hanger. “JARVIS, make sure no one touches this.” The suit opens and he steps out.

The mess of agents having cleared, Steve waves Bucky over. Bucky falls into step with Steve. “How's it feel to be back on the job as Captain America?”

“Honestly? It feels pretty good to be doing something again.” Steve smiles and pulls back his cowl.

“I guess it's a good day at work when someone else does half the work.” He grins back at Tony Stark. The man who, had he and Steve seen the end of the war in person, most likely would have been like a nephew to them both. But instead here he was, older than either of them. “You're Tony Stark, right? I'm Bucky Barnes. Nice to finally meet you.”

“Oh I know who you are.” Tony rolls his eyes.

“Well okay then…” Bucky frowns slightly. That wasn't the reaction he was expecting. He looks to Steve for some kind of an explanation.

Steve shrugs with a small frown. “Well. Anyway. I do have to admit that was easier than I expected.”

Bucky nods. Tony’s tech was intimidating, sure, but Loki had once been worshipped as a god. And Thor sure as hell wasn’t afraid. “Well Fury seems pretty convinced he can hold him…”

“That's true…” Steve says, not entirely convinced himself.

Bucky looks at Thor. “You… uh… okay with this?”

“One way or another, my brother will be returning with me to Asgard.”

Bucky frowns. So much for cooperation.

The group makes it to the observation deck. Tony immediately pushes past to go look at all the tech. Dr. Banner and agent Romanov join soon after.

Dr. Banner goes to hover by a wall, out of everyone’s way. Tony is messing with the monitors. He covers one eye and looks around. “How does Fury see these?”

“He turns,” Hill deadpans.

“That sounds exhausting. That man is playing Galaga! He thought we wouldn’t notice, but we did.”

“So, Thor, what's Loki’s play?”

“He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard, or any other world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.”

“An army? From space?” Bucky’s eyebrows rise.

“So he’s building another portal. That's why he took Erik Selvig,” Banner reasons.

“Selvig?” Thor's brows furrow.

“He's an astrophysicist.”

  
“He's a friend.” Thor frowns.

“Loki has him under some kind of spell. Along with one of our own,” Natasha looks to the side slightly.

  
“Please tell me the use of the word ‘spell’ isn’t literal.” Bucky rubs his face. Adding magic on top of everything else was a bit much.

“I've barely got a handle on modern technology, add magic in the mix and I think I need more classes,” Steve adds with a frown.

“Magic is just tech we don’t have yet. And considering what they’re collecting they’re trying to make their very scientific portal open wider and stay longer,” Tony explains.

“I still want to know why Loki let us bring him in so easily. He can't lead an army from here.” Steve looks concerned.

  
“I don’t think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy’s brain is like a bag of cats. You can smell crazy on him.” Banner glances around at the room.

“Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he is still my brother,” Thor responds sternly.

“He killed over eighty people in two days.” Natasha raises an eyebrow.

“He's adopted?”

“Far be it from me to disagree with the genius in the room, but maybe we should consider the possibility that there’s something here Loki wants,” Bucky offers.

“So the question is, what might be on this ship that he might want. Dr. Banner, if he's building another portal, one large enough to bring an army of aliens through, what all would he need?” Steve crosses his arms.

  
“A power source.”  
  
“That would be the hardest part. Everything else someone like Agent Barton could get easily,” Tony adds.

“How much power are we talking? If it's as difficult as that, surely there would be easier ways of getting it than hijacking this ship,” Steve's brow furrows as he tries to figure out the plan.

“Maybe there’s something on the ship that makes it worth it?” Tony considers.

  
“Such as?” It seems even to Thor, Loki’s motivations are unclear.

“I don’t know. SHIELD’s a dark, shadowy organization, I’m sure they have dark, shadowy secrets. Something’s gotta be flying this thing,” Tony shrugs.

“I think jet fuel is flying this thing,” Dr. Banner says with a raised eyebrow.

“My point stands. Tony Stark, by the way. Nice to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on gamma radiation is fascinating. I’m also a huge fan of how you turn into a giant, green rage monster,” Tony grins, looking a lot like his father, and holds out a hand to Bruce.

Bruce shakes it, looking down, obviously a little uncomfortable with the turn of the conversation. So Tony changes it, quickly turning it into rapid fire science stuff that goes way over Bucky’s head.

Steve looks to Bucky, hoping he had some idea of what just happened, but Bucky can only offer a confused shrug in response.

“Finally, someone around here who speaks English!” Tony grins, satisfied that talking to Bruce about science had had the desired effect of making him more comfortable.

“Is that what just happened?” Steve looks confused.

“Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube,” Fury says as he enters the room. “I was hoping you might join him.”

“Lead the way,” Tony says, holding an arm out in front of him. The pair head to the lab.

“Where's Loki?” Bucky asks, seeing that as the more important issue.

“In a specially designed holding cell. He so much as scratches the glass, he plummets to the ground in a steel trap. Then we'll see how immortal he really is.

“Okay, but the staff. It may be magical, but it sure operates like a Hydra weapon,” Steve says looking around.

“Well, the Hydra weapons were powered by the tesseract, maybe the spear is too?” Bucky responds.

“I don't know about working like a hydra weapon, but it is in fact powered by the cube. However, I'm a little more interested in how he turned two of the sharpest men I know into his own personal flying monkeys.” Fury crosses his arms.

“Monkeys?”

“Now someone’s speaking english,” Bucky says satisfied.

“For once someone else doesn't get the reference,” Steve smiles, slightly proud of himself.

“Red Skull didn’t have mind control. He would have used it if that were a thing the tesseract could do,” Bucky reasons.

“My brother has always been skilled with magic and suggestion, but never on this scale. Perhaps this ability was offered to him to assist in taking over Midgard by whoever gave him his army?” Thor’s brow furrows. He doesn’t seem sure.

  
“So we’ve got an even bigger alien on the way,” Bucky’s prosthetic hand rubs his temple slowly.

“If that alien wants the tesseract this badly and we keep Loki from handing it over? Yes,” Steve answers.

“Steve, we’re in the bad future.”

“...Now I really wish it had been left in the ocean…”

“So what are we doing now? Waiting for this alien to make a move?” Bucky asks Fury.

“You’re getting ahead of yourself. First we need to get back the tesseract.”

“So... we’re just waiting for Stark and Banner to find it.”

“Yup. Romanov, see what you can get out of Loki. Cap, go check on the scientists’ progress.” Fury turns back to his screens.

“Alright. Coming?” Steve looks expectantly at Bucky as he stands up, and the pair leave together.

Steve and Bucky reach the lab just as Tony is poking Bruce with a small electric prod, sparking an “Ow” from the doctor, mostly out of surprise.

  
“Hey! Are you nuts?” Steve stares annoyed and almost disbelieving at Tony.

“It’s fine, I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t think I could handle being poked,” Bruce assures, then goes back to his screen.

“Wow, you’ve really got a lid on it, haven’t you? What’s your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?”

“Would you want someone jabbing you? Leave him alone.” Bucky frowns.

“Is everything a joke to you?” Steve glares at Tony

“Funny things are,” Tony smirks back, looking satisfied at having drawn a reaction.

“Steve, its fine. No one’s hurt,” Bucky reminds his friend.

Steve sighs. “Stark, you need to focus on the problem.”

“You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us? And why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do an equation without having all the variables.” Tony pops a few blueberries into his mouth.

“I feel like the alien army is a bit more important than all of Fury’s secrets at the moment,” Bucky looks slightly confused, not knowing where Tony had been hiding the bag.

“You're saying that now. But think about it. SHIELD says they want to use the tesseract as a clean energy source, right? Well, guess who's the only real name in clean energy right now? Me. I am. So why wouldn't they bring me in on this? You know it's fishy. It's bothering you too, isn't it?” Tony looks at Bruce.

“No, no, no, I just want to be here and do my work…” Bruce makes an effort to go back to the work he'd been doing up until this point.

“Doctor?” Steve furrows his brow, wanting Bruce's opinion. Bruce glances at him. “What do you think?”

“...I mean...you have to admit it's a little weird. Why wouldn't they call Tony in to consult on clean energy?”

“I'm going to be looking into all of that when my decryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files.” Tony smirks.

“When did you set that?” Bucky asks.

“As soon as I set foot on the bridge. What kind of amateur do you take me for? In a few hours we'll know every little secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide from us. Blueberry?” Tony offers the bag to Bruce, who plucks one from the bag.

Steve shakes his head. “And yet you're confused about why SHIELD doesn't want you here.”

Bucky walks over to the screen where Tony's infiltration device is and pokes at it.

“An intelligence agency that fears intelligence? Historically not possible.”

“Loki did come here for something…” Bucky continues playing with the screen

“Ahem, can I have my screen back?” Tony raises an eyebrow. Bucky turns the screen back.

“Loki might just be trying to wind us up. And if we don't focus, it might work…” Steve frowns, thinking. “Hmm… just… find the cube,” he says simply before motioning for Bucky to follow him and walking out the door.

“But… let us know if you find anything,” Bucky follows Steve. “...You okay?”

“I have to admit, they have a point. There some things here that don't quite add up,” Steve admits.

“Maybe the Tesseract isn't the only thing they dug out of the ocean…”

“Wanna check out the ship, see what we can see?” Steve asks, already knowing Bucky’s answer.

“Storage is usually in the lower level.” Bucky walks in stride with Steve.

“Lower level it is then.”

The pair make a trip down to the lowest levels of the helicarrier and start opening storage doors. Then they find one that doesn't open quite so easily. As the others before it. They share a look and Steve nods and pries open the door of storage area 10-C. He holds it open for Bucky. Bucky ducks under his arm and Steve finishes sliding in after him.

Before them are rows upon rows of locked steel crates stacked on top of each other. Steve glances around and up and sees a catwalk not too far above them. Steve jumps and grabs the edge, just to make sure he can, then lets himself drop.

“If I can lift you up high enough, will your prosthetic be strong enough to help you pull yourself onto it?” Steve considers alternatives in case that doesn't work.

“Guess we'll find out. Give me a boost.”

Steve squats and locks his fingers together to create a step for Bucky.

Bucky steps on the hands and Steve stands, putting Bucky up next to the catwalk. With a small amount of struggling as the prosthetic shifts and moves, not being used for its intended for this purpose, Bucky is able to get himself up onto the catwalk while Steve spots him, just in case.

Once Bucky is safely on the catwalk, Steve jumps up and once again grabs the edge, pulling himself up. “You good?”

“Yeah,” Bucky responds as he readjusts his prosthetic. “Let's go.”

Steve frowns at the crates as he considers what might be inside and he walks to the end of the row. He pulls his shield off his back and looks at the lock, then at Bucky.

Bucky nods and Steve brings his shield down on the lock, breaking it off.

“Go ahead and do the next one.” Bucky stands in front of the first crate.

Steve breaks the lock off a second crate as Bucky opens the first.

“Uh… Steve…” Bucky pulls a Hydra style assault rifle from the crate. “This look familiar to you?”

Steve scowls at the weapon. “Looks like director Fury has some questions to answer.”

“Do you think all of these boxes are…?” He motions to the rest of the crates.

Steve opens the second box. More Hydra weapons. He walks a little way down the line and breaks another lock and opens the box. Hydra weapons. His expression grows more sour. Mentally he gives them one last chance to prove that not all of these were Hydra weapons. He walks further down the line, stopping just a few crates from the end. He breaks the lock with enough force that it creates a dent in the box itself. He opens it. He throws his shield in anger and frustration. It bounces off two walls, and then back to him, leaving scratches behind where it hits.

Bucky jumps when Steve throws the shield. “Shit, Stevie, throwing things isn’t going to help.” Bucky frowns at his friend. He had a right to be angry, but reacting without thinking things through wouldn't help them.

“They're all full of Hydra weapons, Buck! Every last one of them! We died leaving everyone who mattered to us behind because of Hydra, and here we are, stuck out of time trying to get back into this world and the people who pulled us out of the ice and thawed us out have crates upon crates of Hydra weapons, not in a secure storehouse somewhere waiting to be dismantled, but on an active duty ship, where anyone with a key who wants one can just come down, pick one up, and use it! These wouldn't be here, on the helicarrier, if they didn't think they might use them!” Steve's voice gets louder as his anger rises. And the more he thinks about it, the angrier he gets.

“Don’t yell at me; I know what this is. I know what this means. I’m upset too, but throwing things doesn’t help. You’re right. These have no place here. So let’s grab a couple, meet back up with Stark and Banner, and confront Fury. We cannot do this angry.” Bucky puts a hand on Steve's shoulder and he calms down just slightly.

Steve nods and puts his shield on his back, grabs one of the weapons and walks back toward where they hopped up and jumps back down.

Bucky grabs another weapon and follows him, being considerably more cautious than the star-spangled blonde.

Steve pries the door back open and Bucky ducks back through. When Steve slips out after him, Bucky squeezes his arm. “We're going to get this straightened out. We'll fix it.”

Steve takes a deep breath and nods.


End file.
